Rohingya refugees walk after crossing the Naf River at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Palong Khali, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Nov. 1, 2017. (REUTERS Photo)
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that the international humanitarian appeal for the Rohingya crisis "remains significantly underfunded at 33 percent."
Noting that the massive refugee emergency that began one year ago in Rakhine State, Myanmar, has become "one of the world's worst humanitarian and human rights crises," the UN chief said that "the response to the crisis must be a global one."
Speaking at a Security Council meeting to mark one year of the refugee exodus from Myanmar, Guterres said that "much more must be done to alleviate the very real risks to life from current and impending monsoons."
The secretary-general expressed his gratitude to the World Bank and President Jim Yong Kim for mobilizing almost half a billion dollars in grant-based support for Rohingya refugees and host communities.
"The grant-based assistance approved by the Asian Development Bank is also crucial in meeting medium-term needs and providing assistance towards life-saving priorities," he said.
The Security Council on Tuesday afternoon was briefed by the UN chief, the UN Refugee Agency Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett, and UN Development Programme (UNDP) Associate Administrator Tegegnework Gettu on the situation in Myanmar and the Rohingya refugee crisis. The British Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN, Lord Ahmad, chaired the meeting.
Britain, this month's president and the lead on Myanmar in the Council, has chosen to hold a meeting on Myanmar to mark the one-year anniversary of the crisis that has led to more than 750,000 refugees fleeing to Bangladesh.