Aust gives extra $10m to Rohingya crisis

Australia's contribution to the Rohingya refugee humanitarian crisis has been raised to $30 million.

Rohingya Muslim woman who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh

Australia will chip in an extra $10m towards the Rohingya refugee crisis engulfing Bangladesh. (AAP)

Australia will chip in an extra $10 million towards the Rohingya refugee crisis engulfing Bangladesh.

An estimated 582,000 refugees have fled there from Myanmar's Rakhine state since late August, escaping what the United Nations says is a "textbook case of ethnic cleansing".

The UN is holding a donor conference in Geneva on Monday and wants to raise $434 million in emergency funds.

Australia contributed $20 million initially in September with the additional funding bringing its total contribution to $30 million.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the additional money will go towards food, clean water, shelter and health services.

"The Australian government condemns the ongoing violence in Rakhine state," she said on Monday.

"We continue to call for the protection of civilians and unfettered access for humanitarian workers."


Share
Published 23 October 2017 10:56am
Source: AAP

Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world