Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

UN appeals for £686m to help Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

THE United Nations on Tuesday (2) appealed for nearly $900 million to help hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees and vulnerable host communities in Bangladesh this year.

The UN refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration and other partners launched a joint appeal for $877m (£686m).


The money would go "to respond to the needs of approximately 855,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and over 444,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis in the communities generously hosting them," they said in a statement.

The requested funds would go to cover vital services like food, shelter and sanitation, as well as healthcare, education and protection services, it said.

Bangladesh and Myanmar have already signed a repatriation deal to send back some Rohingya to their homeland but safety fears mean very few have agreed to return.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Shahriar Alam told reporters in Geneva Tuesday (2) his country expected the international community to push harder to ensure movement on the deal.

"We expect the UN member countries to do more and work closely and to do everything possible to put pressure on Myanmar to take their citizens back in a manner ... that is safe, voluntary and dignified," he said.

The Myanmar military launched a ferocious crackdown against the country's Rohingya Muslim population in 2017, which UN investigators called genocide, driving around 740,000 into neighbouring Bangladesh.

Thousands are suspected to have been killed in the crackdown and refugees brought widespread reports of rape and arson in Rakhine state by Myanmar's military and local Buddhist militias.

The military denies nearly all wrongdoing and insists its operations were justified in order to root out Rohingya insurgents.

The UN pointed out that this year marks the third year of exile for most Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

One issue blocking returns is a lack of clarity around whether the long stateless Rohingya could be provided full Myanmar citizenship.

"More important than anything else is clarity on the path to citizenship," Grandi told reporters in Geneva.

"There needs to be clarity in the minds of the refugees of what that means in order for them not to be discriminated and to get eventually full integration in their own country, in their own society," he said.

More For You

Sara Sharif e1692881096452

Sara was discovered dead in her bunkbed on 10 August 2023.

Sara was discovered dead in her bunkbed on 10 August 2023.

'Chatterbox with biggest smile': Headteacher pays tribute to Sara Sharif

SARA SHARIF, a ten-year-old girl who suffered fatal abuse at the hands of her father and stepmother, is being remembered as a cheerful and caring pupil with a love for singing.

Her father, Urfan Sharif, 42, and stepmother, Beinash Batool, 30, were found guilty on 11 December of her murder at their home in Woking, Surrey, on 8 August 2023. Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child.

Keep ReadingShow less
Healthcare workers hold placards as they demonstrate on Westminster Bridge, near to St Thomas' Hospital in London on May 1, 2023. (Photo: Getty Images)
Healthcare workers hold placards as they demonstrate on Westminster Bridge, near to St Thomas' Hospital in London on May 1, 2023. (Photo: Getty Images)

Teachers, nurses warn of strikes over 2.8 per cent pay rise proposal

TEACHERS and nurses may strike after the government recommended a 2.8 per cent pay rise for public sector workers for the next financial year.

Ministers cautioned that higher pay awards would require cuts in Whitehall budgets.

Keep ReadingShow less
A man walks past a mural that says ‘Northern Ireland’, on Sandy Row in Belfast, Northern Ireland, August 11, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)
A man walks past a mural that says ‘Northern Ireland’, on Sandy Row in Belfast, Northern Ireland, August 11, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)

Northern Ireland approves extension of post-Brexit trade rules

NORTHERN Ireland’s devolved government has voted to continue implementing post-Brexit trading arrangements under the Windsor Framework, a deal signed between London and the European Union in February 2023.

The vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont extended the arrangement for four years.

Keep ReadingShow less
'Covid bereavement rates in Scotland highest among Asians'
Ethnic groups were found to be two-and-a-half times more likely to have experienced the loss of a close family member.

'Covid bereavement rates in Scotland highest among Asians'

THE bereavement rates due to Covid in Scotland have been highest among those identifying with ‘Any other’ ethnic group (68 per cent), followed by Indians (44 per cent) and Pakistanis (38 per cent), a new study revealed. This is significantly higher than the national average of around 25 per cent.

Ethnic groups were found to be two-and-a-half times more likely to have experienced the loss of a close family member during the Covid crisis.

Keep ReadingShow less
Harmeet Dhillon gives a benediction at the end of the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,  on July 15, 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)
Harmeet Dhillon gives a benediction at the end of the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 15, 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)

Trump nominates Harmeet Dhillon for top Department of Justice role

US PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump has nominated Indian-American attorney Harmeet K Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice.

“I am pleased to nominate Harmeet K Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the US Department of Justice,” Trump announced on Monday on Truth Social, his social media platform.

Keep ReadingShow less