Canada establishes relief fund to support Myanmar

11/3/2017 - 9:12:56 AM

Canada has set up a crisis relief fund to support the most vulnerable people in Myanmar, announced Canadian Minister of International Development and La Francophonie Marie-Claude Bibeau

Rohingya people after fleeing from Rakhine state of Myanmar (Photo: AFP/VNA)

The relief fund will receive all donations of individuals and organisations in Canada from August 25 to November 28. The Government of Canada is said to contribute a sum equivalent to the total donations to help people in Myanmar.

Since the start of the year, Canada has provided humanitarian aid worth 25 million CAD (20 million USD) for Myanmar and Bangladesh, in response to a call of the United Nations to raise about 400 million USD for the two countries to overcome current refugee crisis.

On October 23, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed former Premier of Ontario’s Bob Rae as special envoy for Myanmar.

According to unofficial statistics, violence that broke out in Myanmar since August 25 has forced over 600,000 Rohingya people to flee into the neighbouring country of Bangladesh, with 70 percent of them being women and children.

Source: VNA

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