Malaysian ship carrying aid for Rohingya refugees in Chittagong

A Malaysian ship carrying aid for Myanmar’s Rohingya refugees has arrived in Chittagong.

Chittagong Bureaubdnews24.com
Published : 14 Feb 2017, 07:31 AM
Updated : 14 Feb 2017, 07:31 AM

The ship ‘Nautical Alia’ arrived at the CCT Jetty in Chittagong Port at 11am on Tuesday.

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary (Maritime Unit) Rear Admiral Khurshid Alam, Malaysian Ambassador Nur Ashikin Mohd Taib, Chittagong District Administrator Shamsul Arefin and other senior officials were present in the port during its arrival.

The ship is carrying 1,472 metric tonnes of aid including rice, sugar and tea leaves.

The Cox’s Bazar administration says 150 trucks have been hired to transport the aid from Chittagong to Cox’s Bazar.

The aid ship faced protests when it arrived in Yangon on Feb 9 with aid for Rohingya Muslims.

The ship dropped off 500 tonnes of food, medicine and other supplies before it set sail for Chittagong.

The aid is meant for Rohingyas seeking refuge in the south-east of Bangladesh. The aid ship was gathered with the help of several of Malaysia’s national, international and Muslim aid organisations.

Nearly 69,000 Rohingyas have fled across the border to Bangladesh since Myanmar began a military crackdown in Rakhine state after a series of militant attacks killed 9 policemen on Oct 9.