06 October 2017•Update: 06 October 2017
By Yesim Sert Karaaslan
ANKARA
The Health Ministry will send aid material worth 196 million Turkish liras ($54 million) to Bangladesh for Rohingya Muslims who have crossed over from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, according to a ministry source Friday.
The ministry will deliver the aid through the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.
The aid will also be used for disinfection of wells, the source added.
Since Aug. 25, some 507,000 Rohingya have crossed from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh, according to the UN.
The refugees are fleeing a military operation in which security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women and children, looted homes and torched Rohingya villages. According to Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali, around 3,000 Rohingya have been killed in the crackdown.
Turkey has been at the forefront of providing aid to Rohingya refugees and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised the issue at the UN.
The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.
Last October, following attacks on border posts in Rakhine's Maungdaw district, security forces launched a five-month crackdown in which, according to Rohingya groups, around 400 people were killed.
The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.
