Italy has pledged seven million euros to help more than a half a million Rohingya, mainly women and children, who have fled to Bangladesh to escape conflict in Myanmar in recent weeks, foreign ministry Angelino Alfano said on Monday.
“We are deeply concerned about the situation of the Rohingya people: during the last few weeks, over half a million people, mostly women and children, had to leave Myanmar and find refuge in Bangladesh," Alfano stated.
Alfano's remarks came as the United Nations and the European Union called a Donors Conference in Geneva on Monday to raise over 430 million dollars to help the mainly Muslim Rohingya refugees who have fled a deadly military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakine state since 25 August after Rohingya militants attacked a military checkpoint.
“In Geneva, Italy pledged 7 million euros in humanitarian aid to finance emergency relief activities to assure food, healthcare and protection by the specialised UN Agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross both in Bangladesh and in Myanmar,” Alfano said.
"Italy is at the forefront of humanitarian relief actions,” he stated.
Italy’s diplomats will also work within the EU and the United Nations Security Council to ensure that Myanmar’s security forces respect human rights, that civilians are protected and that the UN gain humanitarian access to the area, the foreign ministry said.
Italy will also try to help Rohingya refugees return to Myanmar as quickly as possible and "in conditions guaranteeing their security and dignity", the foreign ministry said.
The UN has described the military crackdown against the Rohingya in Myanmar - also known as Burma - as "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing".
