Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Saida Shinichi has said Japan will continue to support resolving the Rohingya issue, including funding assistance and cooperation with the government and relevant agencies.
“I understand the current situation in the camps impacted by the reduction of international support,” he said on Sunday commenting on his recent visit to the Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar.
Witnessing the ongoing activities in the field recently, Ambassador Saida said he saw how the aid funds provided by the Japanese government were being maximised in the refugee camps through the Bangladesh government, UN agencies, and NGOs.
As the crisis is turning into its eighth year, Japan said it is essential to keep the attention of the global community, while multiple emergencies have been taking place in different parts of the world.
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Since the large influx in August 2017, Japan has contributed over 250 million USD to various interventions in Cox's Bazar as well as in Bhasan Char through international organisations and NGOs.
This assistance included food, healthcare, WASH, shelter, protection, and gender mainstreaming, said the Japanese Embassy in Dhaka on Sunday.
Besides, in September, the government of Japan decided to provide the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) with assistance worth USD 1 million in response to the Flash Floods in northern and southeastern Bangladesh, including the Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazar.
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“I am honoured to attend the inauguration of the JICA project, and I hope this new opening will improve living conditions of host communities,” said the Japanese Ambassador, stressing that Japan will continue to work toward the resolution of the Rohingya issue.
Ambassador Saida visited the registration centre, food distribution centre, learning centre and teachers training centre, livelihoods skills development and production centre, innovation valley, women-led community centre, and community initiative society project site, and attended the inauguration ceremony of the JICA’s improvement of fish landing center of Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation in Cox's Bazar district project.
He had meetings with the Refugee Relief & Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) and the Armed Police Battalion (APBN).