Turkey to build shelters for 100,000 Rohingya

A Rohingya Muslim woman fled from ongoing military operations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and is seen holding a child at a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on 20 September 2017 [Safvan Allahverdi / Anadolu Agency]

Rohingya Muslims, who escaped from ongoing military operations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, walk to a makeshift camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on 17 September 2017 [Zakir Hossain Chowdhury / Anadolu Agency]

Rohingya Muslims, fled from ongoing military operations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, is seen at a makeshift camp on hills at Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on September 17, 2017 [Zakir Hossain Chowdhury / Anadolu Agency]

Rohingya Muslims, fled from ongoing military operations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, is seen at a makeshift camp on hills at Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on September 17, 2017 [Zakir Hossain Chowdhury / Anadolu Agency]

Rohingyas are seen at a makeshift camp in Teknaff, Bangladesh on 23 September 2017 [Zakir Hossain Chowdhury/Anadolu Agency]

Rohingya Muslims, fled from ongoing military operations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, is seen at a makeshift camp on hills at Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on September 17, 2017 [Zakir Hossain Chowdhury / Anadolu Agency]

Rohingya Muslims, fled from ongoing military operations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, is seen at a makeshift camp on hills at Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on September 17, 2017 [Zakir Hossain Chowdhury / Anadolu Agency]

A Rohingya Muslim woman, fled from ongoing military operations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, carries plastic bags over her head at a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on September 20, 2017 [Safvan Allahverdi / Anadolu Agency]

Rohingya Muslims carry sacks at a makeshift camp in Teknaff, Bangladesh on September 23, 2017 [Zakir Hossain Chowdhury / Anadolu Agency]

Rohingyas are seen at a makeshift camp in Teknaff, Bangladesh on 23 September 2017 [Zakir Hossain Chowdhury/Anadolu Agency]

Turkey would build shelters for 100,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, an official of Turkey’s state-run aid body said on Sunday.

According to a press release, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency’s (TIKA) Bangladesh Coordinator Ahmet Refik Cetinkaya held a meeting with Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya.

“Turkey will soon provide 10,000 packets of aid [to Rohingya Muslims],” Cetinkaya told the minister.

He said Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdag would visit Bangladesh.

Since August 25, more than 429,000 Rohingya have crossed from Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh, according to the UN’s migration agency. In total, more than 800,000 Rohingya refugees are now believed to be in Bangladesh, including the arrivals since August 25.

Read: Turkey’s first lady distributes aid at Rohingya camp

The refugees are fleeing a fresh security 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 raised the issue with 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.

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