Mrs Main has hailed the further £12 million in aid announced for the Rohingya refugees as, 'wonderful news and an excellent use of the foreign aid budget'. Penny Mordaunt, the new international development secretary, announced the further support during a visit to the refugee camps near Cox's Bazar at the weekend.
Ms Mordaunt has pledged that the UK will continue to support the Rohingya people who are suffering the fastest growing humanitarian crisis in history. There are estimated to be at least 620,000 refugees who have crossed the border between Burma and Bangladesh since the end of August this year. The Rohingya are fleeing mass murder, rape and persecution at the hand of the Burmese military in what has been described by the United Nations as '[a] textbook case of ethnic cleansing.'
Following up from her visit to the camps in September, the debate she secured in parliament and the many events she has attended to raise the plight of the Rohingya people, Anne Main said, 'I am proud that the UK government continue to lead the world in providing support for the Rohingya refugees. The Bangladeshi government are doing everything they can but they need the support of the international community due to the scale of this crisis.'
The St Albans MP continued, 'I hope that other nations will follow our lead and contribute quickly. The global fund will only last until February and I cannot imagine what would happen if international partners did not step up and continue to help these poor people.'
Mrs Main also urged everyone who can to donate to the Disaster and Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal.
You can donate to the DEC appeal at the following link: https://donation.dec.org.uk/myanmar#/
Watch: Anne Main, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Bangladesh, talks about the Rohingya crisis and urges support for @DECappeal pic.twitter.com/FFL0lq8O0A
— DFID (@DFID_UK) October 12, 2017