Malaysian Aid Ship Docks in Bangladesh

By Reuters 14 February 2017

DHAKA, Bangladesh — A Malaysian aid ship arrived in Bangladesh on Monday carrying aid for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled from Arakan State, many citing abuses by the Burma’s security forces.

A representative of the mission on the ship said it would unload about 2,000 tonnes of food and emergency supplies in Bangladesh, though staff were not being allowed access.

“We are not allowed to get off the ship or to visit the camps,” said the aid representative, who declined to be identified.

A Bangladesh government official said the ship was on its way to the Chittagong port after anchoring off the coastal town of Teknaf, near the Burma border, and arrangements were being made to unload its cargo.

But Ali Hossain, chief administrator of the coastal district of Cox’s Bazar, which borders Burma, told Reuters he had not received clearance to let anyone off the ship.

A port official in Chittagong said a ceremony would be held on Tuesday with a senior foreign ministry official and Malaysia’s ambassador in attending to receive the shipment.