EU raises humanitarian assistance to migrants in Thailand
The European Union is committing a further 125,000 euro (Bt5.1 million) to provide humanitarian assistance to Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants, currently being held in immigration detention centres (men) and social welfare facilities (women and children)
This brings the total EU assistance to these detainees to 325,000 euro (Bt13.8 million) since June 2013, it said in a statement.
The EU said that following inter-communal violence in Rakhine State in Myanmar since June 2012, thousands of Rohingya have been fleeing on boats, many hoping to reach Malaysia and other destinations. In January 2013, some 2,000 Rohingya men, women and children were detained in Thailand. In 2014, a further 1,000 Bangladeshi and Rohingya people ended up in the same detention situation.
The project will be implemented by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and aims to provide basic household items, supplementary nutrition and health care to those detained in 2014. This humanitarian action will be monitored by the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), which maintains a regional office in Bangkok.
Since the violence erupted in Rakhine State in June 2012, ECHO has committed 22 million euro to provide basic humanitarian aid to victims of inter-communal violence and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Rakhine State.
ECHO has also been providing key life-saving humanitarian assistance to undocumented Rohingya and vulnerable host populations in Bangladesh since 2007 for a total of 26 million.
RELATED