Turkey's TIKA hands out food aid to hundreds of Rohingya families in Bangladesh

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), a state-run aid body, on Wednesday distributed 5,000 packages of dry food items among Rohingya in Bangladesh's refugee camps.

"Before the start of winter, we distributed 5,000 packages which included spices, daily use items, and cologne. Those are gifts from the people of Turkey," Ismail Gündoğdu, the agency's Bangladesh coordinator, told Anadolu Agency.

The food items include potatoes, onions, lentils, pepper, turmeric, salt, garlic and sugar. Gündoğdu said: "We started supporting displaced Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh in 2017."

Until 2019, TIKA distributed hot meals to approximately 25,000 Rohingya refugees on a daily basis.

This April, TIKA donate 5,000 personal care packages for the refugees in camps in Bangladesh's southeastern district of Cox's Bazar.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017, pushing their number in Bangladesh above 1.2 million.