UK minister, special envoy arrive over Rohingya issue
UK Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Mark Field, and UK Special Envoy for Gender Equality, Joanna Roper, arrived here early Friday to visit refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and discuss the Rohingya crisis and girls’ education in Bangladesh, reports BSS.
Following World Refugee Day on 20 June, and with the monsoon season just beginning, the UK is calling on the international community to step up support for the Rohingyas and their host communities, said a press release of the British High Commission.
The UK is leading the way with o129 million of aid already given.
With the gender aspects of the humanitarian crisis often overlooked, Joanna Roper will visit a women’s safe space in the camp at Cox’s Bazar and will meet the displaced people, humanitarian workers, and civil society leaders to understand the needs of women and girls caught up in the crisis.
Minister Field and Joanna Roper will also meet senior ministers to discuss the crisis as well as girls’ and women’s education in Bangladesh more widely.
Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific, Mark Field, MP, ahead of his visit said: “Bangladesh is dealing with a major humanitarian crisis not of its making and it is vital the international community works with Bangladesh to step up support for the refugees and their host communities, especially during this monsoon season,”
The UK Minister also said that they are incredibly grateful to Bangladesh and to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for welcoming over one million displaced Rohingyas. “I am looking forward to seeing how UK aid is helping improve their lives.”
UK Special Envoy for Gender Equality, Joanna Roper, said: “The UK is determined to be a world leader in advocating for gender equality internationally and it is all too often women and girls who are the greatest victims in a humanitarian crisis like this – whether as a result of sexual violence, or loss of access to education, and they must not be ignored.”
