The Latest: $340 million pledged to help Rohingya refugees

GENEVA – The Latest on the donors conference for Asia's Rohingya refugees (all times local):

1:50 p.m.

The head of the U.N. agency that coordinates humanitarian aid says have pledged roughly $340 million to help more than 600,000 ethnic Rohingya who have fled Myanmar into Bangladesh since August.

Mark Lowcock of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said donors included governments and the European Union at a one-day conference in Geneva for the Rohingya. The U.N. and its partners are seeking $434 million to help the Rohingya through February.

Lowcock said more contributions are still expected.

The U.N. refugee agency says 603,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled into Bangladesh since security forces in neighboring Myanmar launched a violent crackdown against them on Aug. 25.

___

9 a.m.

U.N. humanitarian officials, high-level government envoys and advocacy group leaders on Monday opened a one-day conference aimed at drumming up funds to help ethnic Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, as the influx from Myanmar has topped 600,000 since late August.

The Geneva meeting hosted by the European Union, the government of Kuwait and the United Nations' migration, refugee and humanitarian aid coordinating agencies aims to help meet a U.N. call for $434 million in funding through February.

Mark Lowcock, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, lamented the "humanitarian and human rights nightmare" faced by the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. He said the main focus of the event was "mobilizing resources to save lives and protect people."

Over half of those who have fled are children.