Turkey plans to take care of 200,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

Turkey is said to have assured Bangladesh that it would like to ease its refugee burden by taking charge of 200,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled an army operation in Myanmar.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 22 Oct 2017, 08:24 PM
Updated : 22 Oct 2017, 08:24 PM

A Bangladesh minister spoke about the plan after meeting the Turkish ambassador in Dhaka.

These refugees will be given shelter, food and other humanitarian assistance on an around 1,200 acres of land at Kutupalong in Cox's Bazar.

Turkey earlier pledged to build 24,000 shelters for 100,000 Rohingya refugees.

After a meeting with Turkish Ambassador in Dhaka Devrim Öztürk, Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya said, "Following our request, they (Turkey) have now assured us of thinking about building shelters for 200,000 refugees as their number has shot up.

"The ambassador will discuss the issue with his government. I hope we will get this help," the minister said.

According to Maya, Turkey will build 50,000 shelters for 200,000 Rohingya refugees at the place, which will be called 'Turkish Zone'.

"They have assured us of providing these refugees with shelter, food, treatment, fresh water, and all other necessities," Maya said.

"They have sought 1,000 to 1,200 acres of land in Kutupalong. They have already built around 4,500 shelters there and provided the refugees with food," he added.

He said Turkey would also send aid for the 500,000 to 700,000 more Rohingyas outside the 'Turkish Zone'.

He also said UNICEF will build 10,000 latrines and Bangladesh government will construct a further 9,000 for the Rohingya refugees.  

"But the refugees need 30,000 more latrines. Turkey has assured us of building 20,000," Maya said.

Nearly 600,000 Rohingyas have fled the latest wave of violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State into Bangladesh, which had already been sheltering around 400,000 refugees who crossed the border for decades.