Tokyo pledges up to $4m in aid to Rohingya Muslims

September 20, 2017

NEW YORK- Japan will provide up to 4 million dollars in humanitarian aid to Rohingya Muslims, a religious and ethnic minority group facing persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, Foreign Minister Taro Kono announced Tuesday.

The emergency aid, such as for purchases of food, water and shelter supplies, will shortly be provided, including through an international organization.

"We're seriously concerned over alleged murders of the local residents (in Myanmar) and the outflow of 400,000 displaced people from" the Southeast Asian country, Kono told reporters in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.

The Japanese government will send Iwao Horii, parliamentary vice foreign minister, to Myanmar from Thursday to gather information on the matter, Kono also said. Jiji Press