Two Boeing 747s transport much-needed relief material to Bangladesh

 Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has ordered further airlifts of relief material to Rohingya refugees.

Two Boeing 747 jumbo jets transported over 198 metric tons of urgently needed aid, valued at over US$600,000 (AED 2,200,000), to Bangladesh over the weekend. The airlift of essential supplies aims to help avert potential health crises and further suffering as the refugee camps prepare for the arrival of the monsoon season.

The airlift is part of the humanitarian open air bridge to Bangladesh created in October last year, under the orders of HH Sheikh Mohammed, to support aid organisations in delivering life-saving relief items to the Rohingya refugees.

The first flight, which left Dubai on Thursday, carried aid material from the warehouses of Dubai’s International Humanitarian City (IHC), on behalf of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The shipment included blankets, hygiene kits, kitchen sets, mosquito nets, and tarpaulins, among others.

The second Boeing 747 transported aid on behalf of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) partners, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP), Good Neighbours and the Swiss Agency for Development. The relief items consisted of medical, shelter and storage supplies.

Since the creation of the humanitarian air bridge for the Rohingya refugees last year, 15 relief aircrafts have been dispatched from Dubai to Bangladesh.

The airlifts were facilitated by the International Humanitarian City (IHC), chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, wife of Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

To date, five relief planes have been sent in 2018 by the IHC with the support of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to crisis and disaster-stricken areas. Earlier this year, aid was dispatched to Angola and Mali on behalf of the Emirates Red Crescent, and to Papua New Guinea on behalf of WFP.