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View all search resultsUS ready to help countries with refugee crisis: Deputy secretary
Deputy Secretary of State Antony J
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D
eputy Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said in Jakarta on Thursday the US stood ready to help Southeast Asian countries bear the burden and save the lives of Myanmarese and Bangladeshi refugees.
'We have a common obligation to answer the call of these migrants, who have risked their lives at sea,' he said in a press release.
"We are actively considering our options right now on two pieces of US assistance, though I'll start with financial assistance,' he went on.
Blinken said if the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) indicated the need for additional funds to assist governments to establish things like reception centers and to ensure the protection screening procedures, the US government would consider those requests.
'We will encourage other governments to respond swiftly and generously, and we'll be ready to respond to an appeal if and when they make one,' he said.
Blinken said the US was taking a careful look at Malaysian and Indonesia proposals, which requested some help resettling people.
'We're prepared to take a leading role in any UNHCR-organized multi-country effort to resettle the most vulnerable refugees,' he said.
He added that more than 1000 Rohingyas have already been resettled to the US so far this fiscal year.
'We've provided nearly US$109 million in humanitarian assistance for vulnerable Myanmarese since the beginning of this fiscal year,' Blinken said. (ebf)(+++)
