The Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) and Additional Secretary of the Government, Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, said that the Rohingyas have been living in Bangladesh as refugees for nearly nine years. For humanitarian reasons, the Bangladeshi government has provided them shelter, and various international organizations are assisting them. The program initiated by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) of Saudi Arabia to provide food assistance to 42,000 Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar will further strengthen the bond among the fraternal Muslims in Bangladesh. This is because both the government and the people of Saudi Arabia have always stood by the people of Bangladesh in any crisis and extended their helping hand. In this continuity, such food assistance during the holy month of Ramadan will play an important role in fulfilling the food needs of Rohingya refugees and addressing nutritional deficiencies. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure their safe and dignified repatriation through international cooperation.
Cox’s Bazar, March 11: On Wednesday morning, under the ‘Emergency Food Assistance for Rohingya and Host Communities in Bangladesh’ project funded by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) and initiated by the private development organization ISDE Bangladesh, he made the above-mentioned remarks in his speech as the chief guest at the inauguration ceremony of food assistance for 22 Rohingya families at FDMN Camp (Unchiprang) 22 in Cox’s Bazar.
The program was chaired by S M Nazer Hossain, Executive Director of ISDE Bangladesh and Vice President of the CAB Central Committee. Other speakers at the event included Camp-in-Charge (Senior Assistant Secretary) Rajib Chowdhury, ISDE Programme Coordinator Md. Jahangir Alam, Rohingya Response Program Manager, Md. Josim Uddin Siddiqui, Program Officer, Tajuddin, Meal Officer Mostak Ahmed, and Field Officer Supom Barua, among others. Representatives of the local administration, officials of ISDE Bangladesh, and Majhi and concerned members of the Rohingya community were present at the event.
Presiding over the event, S M Nazer Hossain, Executive Director of ISDE Bangladesh, said that under the project, food assistance is being distributed among the poor and needy helpless families of Rohingya refugees and the local host community, most of which will be provided in the Rohingya camps. Through this, the food security of the Rohingyas will be ensured and it will help meet their nutritional needs. He further said that ensuring food security for many underprivileged families becomes difficult during the month of Ramadan. Through this assistance, they will get some relief.
It was announced at the ceremony that under this project, ISDE will distribute food aid among 60,000 families of Rohingya refugees and the local host communities. The program was launched by distributing food aid to 1,500 Rohingya families at FDMN Camp-22 in Unchiprang, Cox’s Bazar. Of these, 42,000 packages are designated for the Rohingya population and 18,000 packages are for families from the local host community in Cox’s Bazar.
Under the project, the beneficiaries include the elderly, children, widows, persons with special needs, and disadvantaged people from various ethnic groups. Each family under the project is receiving 10 kg of rice, 7 kg of lentils, 3 liters of soybean oil, 3 kg of sugar, and 1 kg of salt.
