UK provides additional support for Rohingya and host communities in Bangladesh, in the aftermath of cyclone Mocha

UK.GOV
From: British High Commission Dhaka
Published21 May 2023

The UK is providing an additional £2.3 million (over 300 million Taka) in humanitarian support for the Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh. 

This new UK support will provide Rohingya communities with health care, shelter, and basic site management support. It will also strengthen safeguarding systems for Rohingya refugees and host communities in Cox’s Bazar.

Acting British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Matt Cannell, announced this additional funding during a visit to the Rohingya camps and host communities in Cox’s Bazar in the aftermath of cyclone Mocha.

The Irrawaddy
22 May 2023

A victim’s funeral near Basara refugee camp in Sittwe, Rakhine State, on May 16. / AFP

 

Those killed by Cyclone Mocha refused offers of evacuation, Myanmar’s junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has told a ceremony to accept donations for recovery operations.

Min Aung Hlaing accepted donations on Saturday, saying there had been slight property damage and few casualties because his regime had made proper preparations. He has so far refused to allow international humanitarian organizations to provide relief.

Mocha hit western Myanmar on May 14, killing hundreds of Rohingya, and causing massive property damage. Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, was hit hardest by the storm.

Cyclone Mocha Claimed 400 Lives in Myanmar

eman channel
18.05.2023

Cyclone Mocha Claims Over 400 Lives in Myanmar’s Rakhine State

Myanmar’s Rakhine state has been devastated by Cyclone Mocha, resulting in the tragic loss of more than 400 lives, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Arakan Rohingya National Alliance (RNA), a rights group. The cyclone made landfall on Sunday, hitting the coast between Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district and Myanmar’s Kyaukpyu township.

Official Cyclone Mocha death toll in Myanmar rises to 145

Aljazeera
19 May 2023

Official death toll surges as the UN says at least 800,000 people are in need of emergency food aid and other assistance.

NGOs say relief efforts were stalled as they awaited permission from the military to deploy resources to the affected regions [Reuters]

 

At least 145 people were killed when Cyclone Mocha hit the country this week, Myanmar’s ruling military has said.

The impoverished western state of Rakhine bore the brunt of the storm that on Sunday tore down houses, communication towers and bridges with winds of up to 210 kilometres per hour (130 miles per hour), and triggered a storm surge that inundated the state capital Sittwe. 

UK announces humanitarian support for 175,000 affected by Cyclone Mocha in Myanmar

 Press release 

From: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office 

and The Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP 

Published19 May 2023

 

The UK has announced £2 million in new humanitarian funding to support vulnerable communities in Myanmar, following the impact of Cyclone Mocha.

• the UK is providing an additional £2 million to support communities impacted by Cyclone Mocha in Myanmar
• this new funding will supply clean water and shelter for up to 175,000 people

Cyclone Mocha death toll rises sharply in Myanmar

B B C

2023 May19

Myanmar coup

Refugee camps housing the displaced Rohingya minority have been destroyed by Cyclone Mocha

At least 145 people are now known to have been killed in Myanmar (Burma) by a powerful cyclone, the country's military rulers have said.

They say most of the victims of Cyclone Mocha that made landfall last Sunday were from the Rohingya minority.

The junta had earlier put the death toll at 21, but local residents told the BBC that at least 40 had died.

UN denied access to Rohingya refugee camps after Cyclone Mocha

The Guardian
Aung Naing Soe and Kaamil Ahmed
Fri 19 May 2023

UNHCR says Myanmar government has refused to allow it to distribute health supplies in Sittwe, where an estimated 90% of Rohingya homes have been destroyed

A Rohingya woman sits by what remains of her home at Basara refugee camp in Sittwe after Cyclone Mocha hit the region. Photograph: Sai Aung Main/AFP/Getty Images

UN staff say they have been denied access to help thousands of Rohingya living in displacement camps in Myanmar who are in urgent need of food, medicine and shelter in the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha, which struck the west of the country on Sunday.

Cyclone Mocha leaves ‘trail of devastation’ in Myanmar

UN News
Global perspective Human stories
Humanitarian Aid
15 May 2023

© UNICEF/Sultan Mahmud Mukut
Cyclone Mocha hits a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar. 

Cyclone Mocha was one of the strongest cyclones to ever hit Myanmar, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) in the country reported on Monday, leaving a “trail of devastation” as it moved overland from the Bay of Bengal, particularly in the city of Sittwe, capital of Rakhine State.

OCHA said that communities there had spent the day cleaning up, and counting the cost of the storm, categorized as Extremely Severe, when it smashed into Myanmar’s western states and regions on Sunday, with guests as strong as 250km per hour – continuing to lash some areas the day after, with heavy rain.

Cyclone Mocha may have killed ‘hundreds’ in Myanmar’s Rakhine

Aljazeera
16 May 2023

Communications problems are making it difficult to assess the extent of the damage caused by the massive storm.

There were reports of considerable damage at the camps in Rakhine where many Rohingya are forced to live [Sai Aung Main/AFP]

 

Rescue and relief efforts are under way in northwestern Myanmar and neighbouring Bangladesh after Cyclone Mocha crashed ashore, with one humanitarian group working in the affected area saying hundreds had been killed and some Rohingya camps destroyed.

As Cyclone Mocha takes aim at Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh preparing to protect Rohingya refugees

bdnews24.com
Moinul Hoque Chowdhury
Published : 11 May 2023,

Rohingya shelters made of bamboo, and tin and polythene sheets are on the potential path of the cyclone gaining strength over the Bay of Bengal

Nearly 1 million Rohingya who fled persecution and brutal military crackdown in Myanmar to take refuge in Bangladesh are at risk of losing their shelters made of bamboo, and tin and polythene sheets as they are on the potential path of a huge storm brewing over the Bay of Bengal.

As the Cyclone Mocha takes aim at Cox’s Bazar, authorities in Bangladesh have scrambled to save the locals, as well as the refugees, from the damage expected to be caused by the storm, which will hit the coasts as a “superstorm” with a wind speed of 180-220 kilometres per hour on Sunday afternoon.