Rohingya crisis

WB ‘ready’ to support Bangladesh

The World Bank's (WB's) country director in Bangladesh, Qimiao Fan, said yesterday that the WB stands ready to support the Government of Bangladesh in addressing the growing Rohingya refugee crisis, if the government seeks its assistance.

 "The WB is monitoring the situation very closely with UN agencies and other development partners. The WB stands ready, I want to repeat, the WB stands ready to support the Government of Bangladesh in addressing the growing refugee (Rohingya) crisis, if the government seeks WB assistance,” said Qimiao Fan.

The country director explained the Washington-based lending agency's stand on the Rohingya issue while replying to a question during the releasing of the Bangladesh Development Update at its office. The WB's lead economist at the Dhaka office, Dr Zahid Hussain, made the key-note presentation on the occasion.

Qimiao Fan said any official request in this regard would have to come from the official channel, which is the Economic Relations Division (ERD) under the Ministry of Finance.

He said that apart from increased spending on the budget in the short-term due to the refugee crisis, there may be quite significant pressure on the service delivery in the hosting communities in terms of access to health, water, education and sanitation.

"I think it's difficult at this stage to tell exactly what would be the impact on the economy... the situation is evolving and evolving rapidly. It’s clear in addition to the immediate humanitarian assistance, the government will need to address some long-term support that will be needed to help the refugees and also the hosting communities from the impact," added Fan.

He said that obviously the WB is very concerned about the plight of the Rohingya people, who were forced to leave their home country because of conflict and violence.

Qimiao Fan said there is a new window, called the IDA 18, which is the WB's refugee sub-window for the next three years and funds from that window is obviously intended to help the countries to deal with the refugee crisis and also to relieve some pressure of the hosting communities.

He said the total allocation against the IDA 18 for the next three years is USD 2 billion for all countries under the refugee window. "Allocation from the sub-window to any single country is a maximum USD 400 million for the next three years and to get access to that fund, a country needs to fulfil some requirementsl," he said.

Out of the major requirements, the country director said the hosting country needs to host at least 25,000 refugees. "Bangladesh qualifies for that as there are a lot more refugees now in the country,"

Besides, the country also needs to have a framework to deal with the refugees. "I think Bangladesh has some policy framework in place to deal with the refugees,"

Qimiao Fan, however, said that the exact amount will depend on the needs and also the country's capacity to absorb in the short-term.

He said that from the refugee sub-window, there is a need to have some allocation from the country's core IDA as one-sixth of the amount will come from the core IDA while five-sixth will come from the refugee window. Of that five-sixth portion, normally half of that amount will come in grants and the other half in credits, which is similar to all country IDA allocations.

The WB country director said if any country chooses that support entirely focusing on helping refugees, then on a case by case basis, there may be hundred per cent grant to deal with the refugees.

Lead country economist Dr Zahid Hussain, replying to a question, said that the influx of Rohingyas would definitely bring an unexpected pressure on the economy. "With such an influx of Rohingyas (nearly five lakh), there won't be a small-scale pressure, but we're yet to make any estimate regarding the impact of this on the economy,"

He said that dealing with the refugee crisis would also put pressure on government expenditure, create possibility of increasing inflation at the local level, but there is not so much possibility of raising inflation at the national level.

On Tuesday, the UN drastically increased the estimated number of Rohingyas who have fled from the violence in Myanmar to 4,80,000.

The number of those who have crossed the border since August 25 to escape the Myanmar military crackdown has increased by 45,000 in two days.

Between the new arrivals and some 3,00,000 Rohingyas who are already living in the area due to previous violence in Myanmar, there are now nearly 8,00,000 refugees in camps around the Bangladesh border town of Cox's Bazar. The camps are bursting at the seams.

Rohingya crisis

WB ready to support Bangladesh

The World Banks (WBs) country director in Bangladesh, Qimiao Fan, said yesterday that the WB stands ready to support the Government of Bangladesh in addressing the growing Rohingya refugee crisis, if the government seeks its assistance. The WB is monitoring the situation very closely with UN agencies and other development partners. The WB stands ready, I want to repeat, the WB stands ready to support the Government of Bangladesh in addressing the growing refugee (Rohingya) crisis, if the government seeks WB assistance, said Qimiao Fan. The country director explained the Washington-based lending agencys stand on the Rohingya issue while replying to a question during the releasing of the Bangladesh Development Update at its office. The WBs lead economist at the Dhaka office, Dr Zahid Hussain, made the key-note presentation on the occasion. Qimiao Fan said any official request in this regard would have to come from the official channel, which is the Economic Relations Division (ERD) under the Ministry of Finance. He said that apart from increased spending on the budget in the short-term due to the refugee crisis, there may be quite significant pressure on the service delivery in the hosting communities in terms of access to health, water, education and sanitation. I think its difficult at this stage to tell exactly what would be the impact on the economy... the situation is evolving and evolving rapidly. Its clear in addition to the immediate humanitarian assistance, the government will need to address some long-term support that will be needed to help the refugees and also the hosting communities from the impact, added Fan. He said that obviously the WB is very concerned about the plight of the Rohingya people, who were forced to leave their home country because of conflict and violence. Qimiao Fan said there is a new window, called the IDA 18, which is the WBs refugee sub-window for the next three years and funds from that window is obviously intended to help the countries to deal with the refugee crisis and also to relieve some pressure of the hosting communities. He said the total allocation against the IDA 18 for the next three years is USD 2 billion for all countries under the refugee window. Allocation from the sub-window to any single country is a maximum USD 400 million for the next three years and to get access to that fund, a country needs to fulfil some requirementsl, he said. Out of the major requirements, the country director said the hosting country needs to host at least 25,000 refugees. Bangladesh qualifies for that as there are a lot more refugees now in the country, Besides, the country also needs to have a framework to deal with the refugees. I think Bangladesh has some policy framework in place to deal with the refugees, Qimiao Fan, however, said that the exact amount will depend on the needs and also the countrys capacity to absorb in the short-term. He said that from the refugee sub-window, there is a need to have some allocation from the countrys core IDA as one-sixth of the amount will come from the core IDA while five-sixth will come from the refugee window. Of that five-sixth portion, normally half of that amount will come in grants and the other half in credits, which is similar to all country IDA allocations. The WB country director said if any country chooses that support entirely focusing on helping refugees, then on a case by case basis, there may be hundred per cent grant to deal with the refugees. Lead country economist Dr Zahid Hussain, replying to a question, said that the influx of Rohingyas would definitely bring an unexpected pressure on the economy. With such an influx of Rohingyas (nearly five lakh), there wont be a small-scale pressure, but were yet to make any estimate regarding the impact of this on the economy, He said that dealing with the refugee crisis would also put pressure on government expenditure, create possibility of increasing inflation at the local level, but there is not so much possibility of raising inflation at the national level. On Tuesday, the UN drastically increased the estimated number of Rohingyas who have fled from the violence in Myanmar to 4,80,000. The number of those who have crossed the border since August 25 to escape the Myanmar military crackdown has increased by 45,000 in two days. Between the new arrivals and some 3,00,000 Rohingyas who are already living in the area due to previous violence in Myanmar, there are now nearly 8,00,000 refugees in camps around the Bangladesh border town of Coxs Bazar. The camps are bursting at the seams.