PHL donates $300,000 to Myanmar for Rakhine State

The Philippines has donated $300,000—around P15 million—to the communities in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Monday.

President Rodrigo Duterte turned over the symbolic check to State Counselor and Nobel Peace Price awardee Aung San Suu Kyi after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Nay Pit Kaw.

Suu Kyi in her letter of appreciation said that the “thoughtful gesture” reflected the “ASEAN solidarity and family spirit”.

She also said that the humanitarian assistance showed the “traditional bonds of friendship and cooperation” between the Philippines and Myanmar.

PHL donates US$300,000 to the communities in Rakhine state in Myanmar, state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi says in a letter @gmanews pic.twitter.com/fvbytxyvY2

— Trisha Macas (@trishamacas) March 20, 2017

According to a Reuters report, some 75,000 people have fled Rakhine State to Bangladesh since Myanmar's military began an operation last October as a response to an alleged attack by Rohingya Muslim minority insurgents on border posts where nine police officers were killed.

The United Nations in February accused the military in Myanmar of mass killings and rapes of Rohingya Muslims and burning their villages in the said region.

Myanmar said that military operations in Rakhine state have ended in February. —NB, GMA News