Nourish Bangladesh: Rohingya Refugee Emergency
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Thank you for donating to Nourish Bangladesh (NB). Any donations made here will be transferred directly to a NB trusted account before being disbursed to the different NB vetted NGOs that are responding to the refugee camp fire and ongoing needs of the Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh. Donations made here are NOT eligible for tax deductions (in US, Canada, or Australia) or eligible for gift aid (in UK).
The current emergency: On Monday, March 22, 2021, a fire ripped through a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. According to the most recent news reports (e.g. New York Times, 03/24/21), the fire left 15 dead, as many as 400 people missing, hundreds injured, and over 50,000 people without homes.
Recent history: For decades, the Rohingyas have fled their homes and taken refuge mostly in Bangladesh as they face intense religious and ethnic persecution in Myanmar. As of August 25, 2017, roughly 723,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh as the Myanmar military and the local Buddhist militia killed some estimated 24,000 Rohingyas and committed heinous atrocities, making it widely known as the worst case of ethnic cleansing today. To add to that, the military coup and subsequent government takeover in Myanmar in early February 2021 indicates that the already slim chances of the Rohingya refugees returning to their home country are now essentially zero. This fire in one of the largest Rohingya refugee camps has made the humanitarian crisis significantly worse.
What is being done currently? The Bangladeshi government, international community (e.g. UNHCR, USAID, DFID, foreign donors & NGOs), and domestic NGOs are largely responsible for taking care of the Rohingya refugees, working tirelessly to ease their suffering. Despite significant mobilization of resources & expertise, and the good faith efforts of policymakers, volunteers, and donors the situation in these refugee camps remain dire and the needs remain incredible.
What can you do? Usually when an emergency of this proportion occurs, one can volunteer in the field or make monetary or in-kind donations to grassroots volunteers or NGOs that are helping the victims. However, due to local government and international agencies’ security protocols, grass-roots volunteers and many NGOs are not allowed to work in these refugee camps and it is not possible for an individual to walk in and volunteer in-person. The best way to help is to spread awareness and to make monetary donations to NGOs that have been granted permission to work in these refugee camps. To this end, Nourish Bangladesh is fundraising for multiple of our already vetted NGOs to provide the much needed financial support and generate awareness among our supporters and their networks.
Which NGOs will receive our funding? Nourish Bangladesh has been in close contact with our vetted NGOs who are able to work in the Rohingya refugee camps. The situation on the ground remains fluid and information on the most urgent needs is still being gathered. As of now, we will be funding the work of:
BRAC USA Inc
BDesh Foundation
We continue to correspond with other NGOs (vetted and not vetted yet) to find the most appropriate avenue for funding relief in response to the fire and ongoing needs in the refugee camps. Both of these NGOs are currently active in the Rohingya refugee camps that was affected by fire and are helping with food, education, shelter, health services, Covid19, and more. We will direct BDesh Foundation to use our funds in providing dry food while any funds we raise for BRAC USA Inc will be used on multiple fronts as part of their Rohingya Refugee fund.
Is there a tax deductible or gift aid eligible donation option? Any funds you donate on this GoFundMe page will not be tax deductible or gift aid eligible. Currently, none of our current vetted NGOs working with the Rohingya refugees offer tax deductions. To learn more about tax deductible (in the US) and gift aid eligibility (in the UK) options among our vetted NGOs, check out the links below:
US donors: Check the appropriate section here
UK donors: Check the appropriate section here
What is the timeline for vetting and disbursing funds? Our plan is to make disbursements from the portfolio every 2 weeks. However, NB holds the rights to adjust the disbursement timings based on funds raised and the logistics on the ground.
Who are we? We are Nourish Bangladesh, a Minnesota-registered charity based out of Northfield, MN, USA. We, the board members and the advisors of Nourish Bangladesh, are a diverse, multinational group of individuals with a special place in our hearts for Bangladesh (our US team). While this initiative started as a mainly student-organized initiative, it has now grown to include other members from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including college professors, a realtor, an airline pilot, IT professionals, bankers, and fulbright scholars. Most of us have been to Bangladesh, and we understand the devastating public health and economic impact that the current events are having on the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
What is your relationship or contact to the parties you're raising funds for? We are raising funds for NGOs helping the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. We have personal one-on-one contact with these NGOs and remain in regular contact as we manage the impact of the donations. We're raising funds for these NGOs because they have a unique reach.
How will the funds be spent? The funds will be used to help the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh as they deal with the aftermath of the fire. In particular, the funds will be used to provide shelter, food, education support, or healthcare services to the Rohingya refugees. We send the money to the mentioned NGOs.
How will you get the funds from the campaign to the person that they're intended for? We will deposit the funds directly into the accounts of the NGOs in Bangladesh via the websites of their organizations, or use MoneyGram or Transferwise in some cases.
