The United States will provide more than $116 million in additional humanitarian assistance to support vulnerable populations in Burma, Bangladesh, and the region, including more than $74 million to support Rohingya refugees and their host communities, according to a 21 September statement by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

With this new funding, the United States’ total assistance for those affected by the crisis in Burma, Bangladesh, and the region totals more than $2.2 billion since August 2017, when over 740,000 Rohingya fled genocide, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing in Burma’s Rakhine State for safety in Bangladesh, the statement says.

This funding provides life-sustaining support to nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, many of them survivors of a campaign of genocide, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing, and 540,000 members of Bangladeshi communities that generously host Rohingya refugees, Blinken says.

This assistance includes safe drinking water, health care, protection, education, shelter, and psychosocial support.

The United States recognizes the generosity of the government and people of Bangladesh and other Rohingya-hosting countries in the region and urges other donors to contribute to the humanitarian response in Bangladesh, increase support to those driven from and affected by violence in Burma, and work towards lasting solutions to the refugee crisis, he adds.