Indian Naval ship reaches Chattogram port with relief for Rohingyas

FT ONLINE

The Indian Naval Ship 'Airavat' reached Chattogram on Tuesday carrying relief supplies intended to meet the requirements of forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals.

The ship earlier sailed from Vishakhapatnam on Sunday with the relief materials, an Indian embassy statement said.

The relief materials would be formally handed over to Bangladesh authorities at Chattogram port this morning.

The relief material consisted of family packs of rice, pulses, sugar, salt, cooking oil, tea, ready-to-eat noodles, biscuits and mosquito nets to meet the immediate requirements of around three lakh displaced persons.

Earlier, the Indian government had extended the first phase of humanitarian assistance comprising of 981 metric tons of relief supplies in September last year for the Rohingyas.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingyas fled Myanmar military's violent crackdown on them since August 25 last year, while more than 300,000 others, who crossed over from Myanmar in the previous years, were already staying in Bangladesh, posing a major humanitarian crisis for the country.