Arakan News Agency
Only 25 people from the Rohingya aid ship will be allowed to go to refugee camps in the country’s southeast, aid mission organisers said.
“Because of safety reasons, (the Bangladesh Government) only allows 25 of us,” aid mission organiser co-chief Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said.
At about 11.30am local time, the Nautical Aliya docked in Chittagong Port bearing 2,100 tonnes of aid cargo for Rohingya refugees.
According to a list seen by The Star, 16 of the 25-man team will be from the media, five will be from Kelab Putera 1Malaysia, three from the Malaysia Islamic Organisations Consultative Council (Mapim), and one will be a doctor.
The Nautical Aliya, which left Port Klang’s waters on Feb 4 on what it described as the “Food Flotilla for Myanmar” mission, arrived in Bangladesh with 182 passengers and 17 crew.
Azeez was speaking after taking part in a relief handover ceremony attended by Bangladeshi and Malaysian officials.
Government officials met with mission organisers aboard the ship, and talked about how they were going to distribute the aid.
Azeez said the aid, according to Bangladesh, would first be inspected by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) before being distributed a week or two later.
“The IOM is the one that is officially allowed to distribute, manage and control (aid to the Rohingya).
“We will accompany them, they will show us what they are doing,” he added.
Some 150 small boxes of food items will be taken by the 25 people allowed to visit the three camps, to be distributed to families there, at the rate of one box per family.
These visits will take place on Wednesday and Thursday, and the 25 will be sent back to the Nautical Aliya by about Friday.
Meanwhile, organisers are planning for 72 people on board the ship to fly back to either their home countries or to Malaysia on Tuesday and Wednesday.
When asked if the mission was a success, Azeez said, “As far as the flotilla is concerned, our mission is accomplished.”
Organisers have referred to mission as a flotilla despite there being only one ship involved.
