US announces $116 million in aid for Rohingya refugees

The United States will provide an additional $116 million in humanitarian aid for Myanmar, Bangladesh and the surrounding region to support Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks after viewing the "Burma's Path To Genocide" exhibit at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, U.S., March 21, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/Pool/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will provide an additional $116 million in humanitarian aid for Myanmar, Bangladesh and the surrounding region to support Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Thursday.

With this new funding, the United States' total assistance for those affected by the crisis in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the region totals more than $2.2 billion since August 2017, when over 740,000 Rohingya fled genocide, Blinken said.

(Reporting by Katharine Jackson)