Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid orders more relief for Rohingya refugees

The three shipments will be carried along the air bridge which was established by the Dubai Ruler this month

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, ordered three airlifts of relief to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Dubai Media Office

Three more airlifts of vital humanitarian supplies for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have been ordered by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.

The aid drops are targeting more than 230,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh that are fleeing persecution in Myanmar's Rakhine state. They live in dire conditions in camps and makeshift settlements where they lack even the most basic necessities such as food, shelter, water and clothes. Violence in Myanmar has triggered the exodus of about 520,000 Rohingya since August.

The move is the latest in a series of humanitarian flights from Dubai. In early October, Sheikh Mohammed ordered the creation of an air bridge to Bangladesh. This has resulted in six airlifts to the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka that have transported 550 metric tons of relief material worth US$2,308,600 (Dh8,479,718).

Food, family tents, tarpaulins, mosquito nets, blankets, solar lanterns, water purification units, medical supplies, and hygiene kits are just some of the relief items that have been sent to the country.

The supplies come from International Humanitarian City (IHC) stocks of participating aids agencies including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Médecins Sans Frontières and  Emirates Red Crescent.

In August, UN aid personnel had to leave the province when the Myanmar military began a crackdown on Rohingya militants. The military said they behind attacks on security officials. But the mainly Muslim Rohingya accuse the military of trying to drive them out.

Last month, the United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said the crisis was a "humanitarian nightmare".

"We have received bone-chilling accounts from those who fled - mainly women, children and the elderly," he said.

Mr Guterres called on Myanmar to end its military operation and demanded "unfettered" access to the region to deliver aid.

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de facto leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, has also been criticised for failing to condemn the crackdown.

IHC was founded in Dubai in 2003 and is chaired by Princess Haya of Jordan, wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid. Twelve flights have been sent this year from Dubai to crisis-stricken countries around the world.

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