AN East Lancashire charity has been given permission to erect 10,000 new homes for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

The Al-Imdaad Foundation was given the go ahead after more than 600,000 Rohingya refugees fled their homes in Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh after violence erupted in August.

Bosses at the Blackburn headquartered charity said the homes will provide refugees with more permanent, durable and comfortable shelter solutions and will house up to 70,000 Rohingya men, women and children.

The homes will be fitted with solar panels, floor and mosquito nets and a gas stove including basic cooking utensils.

Abdussamad Mulla, the charity director, said: “After months of negotiations with officials in Bangladesh we have been granted permission to build 10,000 homes, which are much needed.

"Construction will start immediately and we appeal to our donors to come together and assist these families at their time of need.

"Cost per home is £500 complete and collection donations to help fund the project.”

Human Rights Watch said 288 Rohingya villages have been destroyed since August, with tens of thousands of homes destroyed.

MPs have also been told that a total of 200,000 cases of sexual violence had so far been reported, with the majority of those cases against women.

The Al-Imdaad Foundation has previously built villages in Indonesia after the Tsunami and more recently built villages for Syrian refugees in Jordan and Turkey.

The Al-Imdaad Foundation has registered offices in UK, Indonesia, Jordan, Australia, Kenya, Bangladesh and South Africa.

The charity is a signatory to the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements and NGOs in Disaster Relief and also Al-Imdaad Foundation is a member of BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development).

Anyone wanting to donate to the project is urged to visit www.alimdaad.co.uk or call the charity on 01254 698771.