“We are deeply concerned about the situation of the Rohingya people: during the last few weeks, over half a million people, mostly women and children, had to leave Myanmar and find refuge in Bangladesh; Italy is in the forefront in humanitarian relief actions,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano.
The United Nations and the European Union have called a Donors Conference in Geneva today, to collect the necessary resources – over 430 million dollars – to face the extremely serious emergency crisis that began on 25 August with the attacks of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which were followed by a very hard clampdown by Myanmar’s security forces.
Minister Alfano went on: “In Geneva, Italy pledged 7 million euros in humanitarian aid to finance the performance of emergency relief activities to assure food, healthcare and protection by the specialised United Nations Agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross both in Bangladesh and in Myanmar”.
The humanitarian activities will be supported by Italy’s diplomatic actions within the European Union and the United Nations Security Council, with the aim of assuring that Myanmar’s security forces perform their activities in respect of human rights, that civilians be protected, that the United Nations be given humanitarian access and that refugees be enabled to return to Myanmar as quickly as possible and in conditions guaranteeing their security and dignity.