Ahead of the looming cyclone and monsoon season, the UK yesterday pledged fresh humanitarian support for the Rohingyas taking shelter in Cox's Bazar. 

The latest announcement of an additional £70 million in humanitarian aid will better protect hundreds of thousands of persecuted Rohingyas who fled neighbouring Myanmar, said a press release of the British High Commission in Dhaka.

Aside from the fresh support package of £70 million announced yesterday, the UK -- a leading donor country since the onset of the crisis on August 25 last year -- has so far contributed £129 million.

Conditions in the massive camps near the Myanmar border are likely to become more hazardous for lives of the Rohingyas after the rainy season begins in the coming weeks when the fragile and cramped makeshift shelters could get washed away, exposing the inhabitants to rapid contraction of fatal diseases.

Over 700,000 Rohingyas entered Bangladesh fleeing military crackdown in Rakhine State of Myanmar and subsequently took shelter in makeshift camps in Cox's Bazar. Currently, approximately 1.1 million of the Rohingya population are living in Bangladesh including the fresh arrivals since 2017.

The UK aid is providing medication, sturdier shelters, food, clean water and support for women to give birth safely. It is also supporting a large vaccination campaign against cholera in and around the Cox's Bazar camps, benefiting almost a million people -- made up of both Rohingya families and Bangladeshis living near the camps, which is close in size to the population of Birmingham.

With the fresh announcement, the UK aid is expected to provide up to 200,000 people with necessary materials to strengthen their shelters;  300,000 people with food assistance and clean water; 30,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and 120,000 under-fives with emergency nutrition;  50,000 women -- many of whom will give birth during the rainy season -- to have access to midwifery care; 52,900 women and girls to have access to bathing cubicles; and 50,000 people to have access to healthcare services.

Penny Mordaunt, international development secretary of the UK, said the scale of this crisis is growing daily. With the devastating cyclone and monsoon season looming, even more lives could be lost, landslides could wipe out shelters and fatal diseases could spread.

“The UK is leading the way to help vaccinate people against a deadly cholera outbreak, strengthen shelters, and provide vital food and water to vulnerable Rohingya families who have already been forced to flee their homes because of brutal violence and persecution,” said Penny.

She said the Bangladesh government must now use their expertise to safeguard the Rohingya families from dangerous rains.

“Across the globe countries were quick to respond to the plight of the Rohingya people last year, but what is needed is a longer-term commitment to these vulnerable men, women and children who have suffered so much,” the British minister said.