Humanitarian agencies operating in Cox’s Bazar urgently need USD 77 million to assist people who have fled violence in Rakhine state, Myanmar, said the United Nations here yesterday.

‘Since 25 August, an estimated 290,000 people are believed to have crossed the border from Myanmar to Bangladesh, tripling the Rohingya population in Cox’s Bazar in two weeks... The $77 million requested by the new plan will allow agencies to scale up their response to meet the rapidly growing needs of the new arrivals,’ a press release issued by the UN Resident Coordinator’s office in Bangladesh said.

It goes on to say that the new settlements have formed and are expanding rapidly, however people in these sites have little access to basic services.

‘The Response Plan, developed as a result of the influx of the people to Cox’s Bazar, outlines the life-saving support UN agencies and international NGOs are aiming to provide 300,000 people until the end of 2017,’ the release said.

‘Efforts by the Government of Bangladesh to meet the needs of those who have crossed to Cox’s Bazar are already being supported by humanitarian agencies that are providing shelter, health, water and sanitation, food, nutrition, and education assistance, as well as support to ensure the safety and dignity of new arrivals,’ it added.

The UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, Mr. Robert Watkins, said, ‘With the movement of people showing no signs of stopping, it is vital that agencies working in Cox’s Bazar have the resources they need to provide emergency assistance to incredibly vulnerable people who have been forced to flee their homes and have arrived in Bangladesh with nothing.’

‘Before this latest crisis agencies were already working on the ground, but the influx has overwhelmed the services that were in place. To support the new arrivals there is now an urgent need for 60,000 new shelters, as well as food, clean water and health services, including specialist mental health services and support for survivors of sexual violence,’ he said.

To support the implementation of the Response Plan, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has allocated US$ 7 million.

This will allow agencies to provide life-saving assistance to an estimated 75,000 people in the three new spontaneous settlements where new arrivals have limited or no access to humanitarian assistance, and the most vulnerable new arrivals who have settled in the two formal registered camps.