Debated in Parliament on 21 Apr 2023.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs for each year in the past five years (a) how much has Singapore contributed to the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) to help Rohingya refugees; and (b) how much has the AHA Centre spent in helping Rohingya refugees.
Singapore contributes US$90,000 annually to the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre). In the past five years, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) sent officers to support the AHA Centre in the distribution of relief items in Rakhine State in 2018 and its Preliminary Needs Assessment (PNA) in 2019. Singapore has also contributed over S$1 million in bilateral aid to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of displaced persons from Rakhine State.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN's) work is primarily focused on helping to improve ground conditions in Rakhine State to create conducive conditions for repatriation, including through the PNA conducted by the AHA Centre and the ASEAN Secretariat's Ad-Hoc Support Team established to monitor the implementation of the PNA. Singapore is prepared to send further consignments of aid and stand ready to support future comprehensive needs assessments once repatriation commences.
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