The plane carrying emergency relief for Rohingya refugees left from Dubai to Dhaka on Tuesday, loaded with more than 24,600 plastic tarpaulin sheets.

UNHCR has sent a third cargo flight from Dubai’s International Humanitarian City to Bangaldesh’s Rohingya refugee camps as logistics efforts for the displaced men, woman and children continue.

The plane carrying emergency relief for Rohingya refugees left from Dubai to Dhaka on Tuesday, loaded with more than 24,600 plastic tarpaulin sheets.

The shipment was prepared by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) at International Humanitarian City (IHC), it will help in creating temporary shelter for more than 123,300 Rohingya.

They are a stateless people who are seeking refuge in Bangladesh after fleeing violence in neighbouring Myanmar.

Two other flights have already been sent, one of which was sponsored by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

More than 430,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar, according to a senior UNHCR official.

Heavy rains and muddy grounds have made the need for temporary shelter of paramount importance. The plastic sheets sent from Dubai will provide temporary relief until a more lasting solution for shelter can be arranged.

The aid will be flown to Dhaka first and then to Chittagong before being taken by road to Cox’s Bazar in southern Bangladesh, where most of the refugees are crossing the border.

Next month, two more aid flights are planned from the UAE to Bangladesh, carrying tents, blankets, jerry cans, kitchen sets and “core relief” supplies, according to Toby Harward, UNHCR’s head of office in the UAE.

Harward said IHC-based UNHCR relief stockpiles and operations are “absolutely critical” in responding to the Rohingya emergency and other crises worldwide.

“We very much depend on the generosity of the donors, like the UAE government, to help us respond quickly and timely,” he said.

“For us, the IHC here in Dubai is absolutely critical. Dubai, as a geostrategic hub, is a fantastic base for the UNHCR,” he added.

“We have over 100,000 square metres of warehouse space here, so we are able to bring in large amounts of relief items here, through Jebel Ali port and into IHC. And because of the access and because of the relationship we have formed with the UAE government, and the Dubai government in particular, we are able to respond quickly in getting these emergency items out to the emergency zones.”

Source Link | Arabian Supply Chain