Islamic Relief in Myanmar
Following an outbreak of violence, 80,000 people in Myanmar were displaced in Rakhine State, mainly from the ethnic Rohingya minority. Islamic Relief responded by distributing emergency food to families, constructing shelters for families and improving the sanitation facilities through the construction of latrines in a camp near Sittwe Township.
Islamic Relief has worked with the Rohingya community before, constructing an entire village for 10,000 unregistered Rohingya refugees in 2008 in Teknaf, on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
We worked with the European Commission to build household shelters, water supplies, sanitation facilities, community centres and a health clinic. We gave relocated refugees – many of whom had been sleeping along river banks and on the roadside – a safe place to live and basic facilities, without threat to their health and security.
Islamic Relief also provided rapid emergency relief in 2008, when Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar. We distributed food parcels, emergency shelter, hygiene kits and water to thousands of families. We didn’t stop there – we helped communities get back on their feet by building new homes, reconstructing schools and supporting farmers and fishers to get their livelihoods back.