The High Commission of India in Bangladesh has started a process of delivering to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief of Bangladesh a fourth tranche of Indian relief assistance for persons displaced from Myanmar, currently sheltering in Cox’s Bazar district.
When completed, this fourth tranche of Indian aid would include 2,25,000 blankets, 2,00,000 woollen sweaters and 500 solar street lights.
This tranche of assistance is in specific response to the request of the Minister for Disaster Management and Relief. It is part of India’s continuing partnership and support for Bangladesh especially in sharing the burden imposed upon it because of the influx of a large number of displaced persons from Rakhine State in Myanmar. Material will be distributed in the camps at Cox’s Bazar from December 24 onward, by the Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Commissioner of Bangladesh.
As a special gesture, India is also making available a part of the consignment of blankets and sweaters for distribution to vulnerable sections of the local community in Cox’s Bazar.
This fourth tranche of assistance is part of a process initiated in September 2017, when under ‘Operation Insaniyat’, Government of India delivered a first consignment of humanitarian assistance in the Cox’s Bazar area, comprising 981 metric tons of relief supplies, including family packs of rice, pulses, sugar, salt, cooking oil, tea, ready-to-eat noodles, biscuits, mosquito nets, etc. In May 2018, 373 MT of relief material was supplied by India. This consignment included 104 MT of milk powder; 102 MT of dried fish; 61 MT of baby food; 50,000 raincoats; and 50,000 pairs of gum boots. A third consignment was provided in September 2018, where India handed over 1.1 million litres of SKO (Super Kerosene Oil) and 20,000 Kerosene multiwick stoves. The material included in the latest consignment of assistance will help the displaced persons through winter, while the solar street lights will ensure environment-friendly lighting solutions for the camps.
India is committed to continuing to respond swiftly to any crisis in Bangladesh, in keeping with the close ties of friendship between the two countries. India is ready to continue to assist Bangladesh in catering to the needs of displaced persons from Myanmar, in a manner that is sustainable, people-centric and is also in the best interests of the host communities as well.