UAE raises Dh73m for Rohingya refugees in two days

The UAE for Rohingya Women and Children charity campaign launched Thursday

Rohingya refugees look out from their camp near a fence in a no-man's land between Myanmar and Bangladesh, near Taungpyolatyar village, Maung Daw, northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. Min Kyi Thein / AP 

The UAE has raised more than Dh40 million on the second day of a campaign to help Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.

UAE for Rohingya Women and Children was launched on Thursday to assist the Muslim minority group living in camps in India, Bangladesh and elsewhere.

More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees have fled from their homes into Bangladesh since late August 2017 in the face of a brutal crackdown by the Myanmar military.

The Myanmar government claims security forces targeted militants but many villages have been destroyed and thousands are believed to have been killed.

Organisers of the aid campaign hope to provide education, food and clean water, health services, sanitation and shelter to some of those exiled in camps.

More than Dh73 million has been raised in the campaign's first two days. Significant donations have come from Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Mother of the Nation, who donated Dh10 million, and Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, the Ruler's Representative in Al Dhafra and chair of the Emirates Red Crescent, who donated Dh5m.

UAE residents can donate Dh10 or more during the two week campaign lead by Emirates Red Crescent. For more information or to make a donation, please visit www.emiratesrc.ae/Rohingya