PRESS RELEASE : UK provides new life-saving support for Rohingya people [March 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 10 March 2023.

Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan announced new UK funding to support Rohingya people living in camps in Bangladesh.

• Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, announces new UK funding through the World Food Programme to help 449,000 people
• she is visiting Bangladesh for the first time in her role to strengthen historic UK-Bangladesh ties
• she will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen, and strengthen UK-Bangladesh partnership on climate action

Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan will visit Cox’s Bazar this week to see first-hand how UK support is providing a lifeline to Rohingya people in the camps.

During her first visit to Bangladesh in the role, she will also set out how the UK is providing new humanitarian support through the [orld Food Programme to supply food for 449,000 people living in the camps this month.

UK support will also go to the [nited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for pressure cookers that can help to reduce the consumption of cooking gas.

Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

The UK is committed to supporting Rohingya people who continue to live in Cox’s Bazar. We are helping the World Food Programme feed 449,000 people, as well as providing pressure cookers that can help to reduce the consumption of cooking gas.

The UK continues to push for a long-term solution that will enable the Rohingya to return to Myanmar on a safe, voluntary and dignified basis.

During her visit, Minister Trevelyan will meet Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen as well as hold talks with civil society organisations.

British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson said:

I’m pleased to welcome the Minister for the Indo-Pacific to Bangladesh. The UK’s partnership with Bangladesh is a unique and valued relationship which contributes much to the prosperity and security of both our countries.

This visit reaffirms the UK’s firm commitment to Bangladesh as a fast growing Indo-Pacific partner with strong people-to-people connections and our ambition to work even more closely together in the future.