Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the sanitation levels in camps for displaced Rohingya in Bangladesh and the effect of those levels on living conditions.

DFID is one of the largest bilateral donors to the Rohingya crisis and we are already providing over £6m for water and sanitation support through our partners in Cox’s Bazar. This includes providing and maintaining toilets, and providing single cubicle shower facilities separated for men and women. Major challenges remain, however. Water sources are being contaminated, given the very crowded camps and because international standards on borehole drilling and placement of toilets in proximity to water sources are not always being followed. DFID is taking the lead on urgently tackling these public health concerns, pushing our partners to scale up their response and exploring how else we can help.