Princess Haya donates Dh1.4m to displaced Rohingya

Mr Toby Harward, head of the UNHCR office in the UAE, praised Princess Haya, who is the chairperson of the International Humanitarian City, for her contribution to relief efforts

Rohingya refugees recieve UN relief supplies at the Kutupalong refugee camp on Sunday. Dominique Faget / AFP

Princess Haya bint Al Hussain, wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, donated Dh1.4m to support the provision of core-relief items and temporary shelters for more than 13,500 displaced Rohingya in Bangladesh.

The aid will be airlifted from International Humanitarian City in Dubai to Bangladesh on Monday.

The donation comes at a time of a massive new wave of displacement of Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar. The number of refugees who fled to Bangladesh since the end of August has surpassed 420,000.

Toby Harward, head of the UNHCR office in the UAE, thanked Princess Haya, who is the chairperson of the International Humanitarian City, for her contribution to relief efforts.

“We are very grateful to Her Royal Highness for her generous support of those in dire need of humanitarian aid and shelter. This support provides a critical lifeline for Rohingya refugees as they face this desperate crisis," he said.

____________

Read more:

UAE donates Dh830,000 worth of aid to displaced Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh

Rohingya villages ‘burnt to the ground by Myanmar security forces’

The Rohingya: a tragedy decades in the making

____________

Rohingya refugees – the majority of which are women and children - have been forced to make long journeys to reach across the Bay of Bengal to reach refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Camps in Kutupalong and Nayapara have been overwhelmed with refugees being forced to temporarily stay in makeshift shelters along roads.

This month, two emergency aid flights - one sponsored by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and the other by the UNHCR - left the UAE on carrying emergency relief for 25,000 refugees.

The first flight, a UNHCR-chartered Boeing 777, delivered 1,671 family tents, worth around Dh2.7m, which will provide shelter for some 8,355 refugees.

It carried 91 tonnes of aid including much needed shelter materials, jerry cans, blankets, sleeping mats and other essential items from UNHCR’s global stockpile in Dubai.

The second flight was organised by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, which carried almost Dh827,000 worth of emergency aid provided by the UNHCR to Bangladesh, according to Adrian Edwards, a spokesperson for the UNHCR.