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In Grim Camps, Rohingya Suffer on ‘Scale That We Couldn’t Imagine’ - The New York Times

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In Grim Camps, Rohingya Suffer on ‘Scale That We Couldn’t Imagine’ - The New York Times

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"This is not so much a defined camp as a dense collection of bamboo and tarp stacks. When I visited, children were wandering in the mud looking for food and clothes. There are worries about cholera and tuberculosis. With no toilets, what’s left of the forest has become a vast, improvised bathroom.""

"With existing camps beyond their capacity, the Bangladeshi government is racing to convert an additional 2,000 acres of land into settlements for the new arrivals. But a report from a network of United Nations agencies warned that Rohingya refugees had already arrived at the site before adequate infrastructure and services had been set up. "

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Every medical treatment post here has a line that snakes nearly around the camp. Local doctors and foreign aid organizations like Doctors Without Borders are scrambling to set up more clinics but can hardly keep pace.

With just one main road connecting most of the district, aid groups are struggling to reach the most remote camps. In Taink Khali, a nearly 30-minute hike off the main road, an Australian aid agency called Disaster Response Group was setting up a mobile clinic in a tiny shack. Dozens of women and children were waiting quietly in the hot sun.

"We're the first aid these people have seen," said Brad Stewart, operations manager for the aid group, a small medical assistance organization that most often serves backpackers in Nepal. His team of four ex-military Australians were taping a bottle of hand sanitizer to a tree.

"The immediate attention is going to the more established camps," he said. "Out here, we're just a drop in a very large bucket."

For the hundreds still coming, they face a dangerous boat ride across the river border into Bangladesh. On Thursday, dozens of Rohingya, many of them children, were killed as a trawler carrying them capsized in the Bay of Bengal.

Their bodies washed up on the bay alongside some survivors.

"The women and children couldn't swim," said Nuru Salam, 22. He had tried to cross with his entire family when the boat tipped in the sea. His son had died and he was waiting to find his wife's body. "There are still many more bodies to come."

The physical challenges here are steep enough. But the Rohingya crisis has shaken the entire region, exacerbating already severe sectarian and political strains and worsening the relationship between Bangladesh and Myanmar, in particular.

This is not the first wave of Rohingya that Bangladesh has had to absorb. In 1978, around 200,000 Rohingya fled into the country. Most returned to Myanmar after the two governments hammered out a repatriation deal. Another influx came in the early 1990s, as well as in 2012 and in October of last year.

Even before this latest exodus from Myanmar, the stresses being placed on this already poor country were considerable. Yet some of the locals have shown remarkable kindness.

"I see that the host community here has been incredibly positive," said Karim Elguindi, head of the World Food Program's office in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. "I'm still surprised by the humanitarian response of the government and the community."

Mr. Elguindi has worked in Darfur, the strife-torn region of western Sudan, and he noted that while the sheer concentration of arriving Rohingya was unprecedented and the terrain challenging for aid distribution, the Rohingya could at least count on basic security once they made it to Bangladesh.

"Compared with Darfur, here they speak the same language," he said. "The refugees in Darfur were in I.D.P. camps," referring to internally displaced persons. "They were still among enemies. Here, they are relatively safe."

With existing camps beyond their capacity, the Bangladeshi government is racing to convert an additional 2,000 acres of land into settlements for the new arrivals. But a report from a network of United Nations agencies warned that Rohingya refugees had already arrived at the site before adequate infrastructure and services had been set up. The local authorities have begun limiting Rohingya refugees to the camps, setting up police checkpoints to prevent them from leaving.

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war crimes  genocide and crimes against humanity

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In Grim Camps, Rohingya Suffer on 'Scale That We Couldn't Imagine'

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Every medical treatment post here has a line that snakes nearly around the camp. Local doctors and foreign aid organizations like Doctors Without Borders are scrambling to set up more clinics but can hardly keep pace. With just one main road connecting most of the district, aid groups are struggling to reach the most remote camps.

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Inside Rohingya Refugee Camps In Bangladesh: Photos : Goats and Soda : NPR

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Inside Rohingya Refugee Camps In Bangladesh: Photos : Goats and Soda : NPR

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"Pretty much all the refugees arriving in Bangladesh are having to build their own shelters, from bamboo and plastic sheeting."

"You have these other people who are doing their best to take advantage of the crisis. As soon as the refugees arrived, shopkeepers doubled and then tripled the prices of bamboo and plastics that people needed to build shelters. The boatmen who bring the refugees across from Myanmar are charging $120 a person, which pretty much strips these people of the last of their assets."

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Sometimes you can see the smoke of Myanmar's burning villages from across the border in Bangladesh.

For Muslim Rohingya who have fled their predominantly Buddhist country, it's a reminder of the violent crackdowns they faced. Since late August, half a million Rohingya have escaped Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh.

Myanmarese militia burned their homes down. They've tortured and killed men. Raped women. It's part of a campaign of oppression that this population, often described as " the world's most persecuted minority," knows all too well.

This crisis is different, says Tommy Trenchard, a British photographer and writer who has been documenting the Rohingya in refugee camps across southern Bangladesh since September. Trenchard has covered the battle to liberate Mosul from ISIS, the early days after Haiti's devastating earthquake in 2010, and the Ebola outbreak. But what he's seeing in Bangladesh is "tougher than usual. Just the number of people who have lived through horrific events."

Attempts to reach safety across the border in Bangladesh have also proven dangerous. Last week, a boat carrying Rohingya refugees capsized, drowning dozens who couldn't swim. Rohingya fleeing on land have encountered mines planted by soldiers, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

And once the Rohingya arrive in Bangladesh, the refugees face an uncertain future. "Bangladesh does not want to keep them and Myanmar does not want them back," says Trenchard. The refugees he is meeting are focused on "just getting by one day at a time."

The 29-year-old photojournalist spoke to NPR from the Bangladeshi port town of Cox's Bazar. In our conversation, he describes muddy camps, people searching for food and what it's like to photograph in the chaos. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
A U.N. report Who are some of the people you've met? says that more than 65 million people from countries like Ethiopia, Sudan and Syria have been displaced around the world. What makes this refugee crisis different? These heartbreaking stories of brutality seem common.
One thing that sets this crisis apart is the speed at which it developed. A month ago, there were already a few hundred Rohingya in Bangladesh from previous migrations. But in the last month alone, there have been 500,000. It's taken a while for aid agencies to catch up with the scale of what's happening here. Pretty much all the refugees arriving in Bangladesh are having to build their own shelters, from bamboo and plastic sheeting.
Did people you met appear to feel relief to be in Bangladesh or were they mourning at having to leave their homes in Myanmar?
There was one woman I met whose husband was so badly beaten by [Myanmarese] soldiers that he lost his mind. When I met her, her husband was tethered by a rope to a stick. He was behind her, just lying motionless on the ground. The poor woman was distraught that her husband no longer recognized her or her children. He wouldn't eat. She had taken him to the doctor but the wait was so long, they had to come back.
How are Bangladeshis receiving them?
A lot of extreme cruelty. There was a man [named Bashir Ullah] I met as he got off the boat. He arrived about a week ago. His wife was suffering from tuberculosis and she could barely walk. He was supporting her as they made their way ever so slowly along this long space of land that connects the port to the mainland.

There is definitely a sense of relief that they are in a place that is safe, safe at least from the kind of dangers they faced in Myanmar. [But] even though they did suffer a lot in Myanmar, home is home. They miss simple things, like their fields and cows and chickens - all the things they couldn't bring with them.
As the Rohingya crisis starts to get more coverage in the media, how can photographs make a difference?
There has been a huge outpouring of support from local Bangladeshis - people from all over coming together and pulling together donations to drive down in trucks to where the refugees are living. Handing out all of these things that are really very needed.
What do you do when people in the camps, particularly malnourished children, ask you for food or help?
At the same time, you have these other people who are doing their best to take advantage of the crisis. As soon as the refugees arrived, shopkeepers doubled and then tripled the prices of bamboo and plastics that people needed to build shelters. The boatmen who bring the refugees across from Myanmar are charging $120 a person, which pretty much strips these people of the last of their assets.
Sasha Ingber is a multimedia journalist who has covered foreign affairs, science and culture for such publications as National Geographic, The Washington Post Magazine and Smithsonian. Contact her @SashaIngber
One example perhaps is the photograph of Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian boy who was found on a beach in Greece. That kind of photo triggers huge foreign policy changes in a day.

Sometimes [I] help out with their taxi fare to hospitals or a little money for another round of medicine. Little things like that. I try to do what I can, though it's never enough.

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PHOTOS: Intimate Pictures Capture The Pain Of The Rohingya

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Sometimes you can see the smoke of Myanmar's burning villages from across the border in Bangladesh. For Muslim Rohingya who have fled their predominantly Buddhist country, it's a reminder of the violent crackdowns they faced. Since late August, half a million Rohingya have escaped Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh.

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Rohingya refugee children: UNICEF emergency response in Bangladesh | Bangladesh | UNICEF

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Rohingya refugee children: UNICEF emergency response in Bangladesh | Bangladesh | UNICEF

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Provides insight into the scope of the problem, and outlines more general concerns that UNICEF is addressing (i.e: sanitation, protection, the continued education of refugee children)

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UNICEF | Children's Rights & Emergency Relief Organization

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Rohingya refugee children: UNICEF emergency response in Bangladesh

Since violence erupted across Rakhine State, Myanmar, on 25 August 2017, some 656,000 refugees have poured across the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh.

They have joined the more than 200,000 others who had came in previous cross-border influxes.

Almost 60 per cent of the refugees are children. Many have become separated from their families or fled on their own. All have suffered tremendous loss.

As violence continues in Myanmar, their numbers and their needs grow. The risk of this humanitarian crisis turning into a human catastrophe is all too real.

UNICEF is on the ground working with the Bangladeshi authorities and partners to help meet the Rohingya refugees' urgent needs.

But the magnitude of the challenge is daunting. This is the fastest growing humanitarian crisis in the world today - and the world must respond.

>> Read the UNICEF child alert Outcast and Desperate: Rohingya refugee children face a perilous future
>> See latest news

On 2 October 2017, UNICEF launched a US$76.1 million appeal for its emergency humanitarian response to the Rohingya refugee crisis in southern Bangladesh.

The appeal covered the immediate needs of newly arrived Rohingya children, as well as those who had arrived before the recent influx, and children from vulnerable host communities.Thanks to the generous funding support from donors it was 93 per cent funded as of January 2018.

UNICEF will need an estimated US$144.6 million for its Rohingya response in 2018.

>> UNICEF is calling for urgent action to respond to the crisis

The response

"The appalling dangers that children here face are plain to see. Living in the open, with food, safe water and sanitation in desperately short supply, the risk of waterborne and other diseases is impossible to ignore." - UNICEF Bangladesh Representative, Edouard Beigbeder
Protection
Women and children fleeing from Myanmar's Rakhine State into Bangladesh have reported experiencing or witnessing brutal acts of violence - accounts which point to grave human rights violations.

And the threat to young lives doesn't end when they cross the border. Other dangers lurk in the disorderly setting of the camps, including traffickers and others looking to exploit and abuse the young and vulnerable.

UNICEF-supported Child Friendly Spaces provide a protective environment that shields vulnerable children against violence, abuse and exploitation. It also shelters them from the chaos and gives them the opportunity to play, learn and just be children.

A high priority are the unaccompanied and separated children. Trained social workers manage these cases, and provide them with community-based care while their families are traced.

>> Meet some of the children receiving education and support in the Child Friendly Spaces

Delivering safe water and hygiene

From drilling wells to trucking water, UNICEF and partners have provided more than 235,000 people with safe water.

Thousands of emergency latrines must also be installed to protect Rohingya and host populations alike against waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera, which can occur when faeces contaminate water sources. Overall, more than 336,000 people have gained access to sanitation facilities through the construction of more than 13,000 toilets.

Hygiene kits and hygiene promotion activities, along with simple but vital items like jerry cans, are also urgently needed.

Holding the line on disease

The congested refugee camps, with only limited clean water and toilets, are an obvious breeding ground for waterborne and other infections. The implications for children are especially alarming.

"What makes things worse is that as far as we know, as few as 3 per cent of the children arriving from Myanmar are properly immunized, whether against measles, polio or other major childhood illnesses," says UNICEF Bangladesh Chief of Health Maya Vandenent.

As of 31 December 2017, 3,041 cases of suspected diphtheria were reported with 28 deaths - 58 per cent of these deaths occurred among children under five years of age. In response, UNICEF is supporting the Government of Bangladesh and partners in a large vaccination campaign.

Fighting malnutrition

An estimated 564,000 people are in urgent need of nutrition services. Among them, 16,695 children under 59 months of age need treatment for severe acute malnutrition - a life-threatening condition. UNICEF and partners have treated 10,725 children for malnutrition since 25 August 2017.

UNICEF has also provided infant and young child feeding advice to more than 47,515 pregnant and lactating women to reduce undernutrition among infants and young children.

Keeping the focus on education

More than 453,000 refugee and host community children aged 4-18 years now need a place to learn.

UNICEF plans to reach at least 150,000 Rohingya children and 50,000 host community children of 4-14 years, while the remainder will be supported by other sector partners.

"It is critical that these children, who have suffered so much in this crisis, should have access to education in a safe and nurturing environment," says UNICEF Bangladesh Representative, Edouard Beigbeder. "This is critical not just to provide them with a much-needed sense of normalcy now, but so that they can build a future to look forward to."

Outside one learning centre, Laila Begum is waiting to collect two of her children. She and her husband - a fisherman - have lived in Bangladesh for 10 years. They now share their simple bamboo shelter with seven relatives who fled Myanmar in recent weeks.

"If they learn, they will be able to live their lives properly," Begum says. Her husband, Noor Alam, nods in agreement. "Wherever we go, the children need knowledge," he says.

16/01/2018: Half a million Rohingya refugee children at risk in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh with cyclone and monsoon season on horizon
9/01/2018: Briefing note: The situation of children in Rakhine State, Myanmar
12/12/2017: Bangladesh moves to protect Rohingya children from diphtheria
25/11/2017: UNICEF plane landed in Sana'a airport today with lifesaving vaccines for children in Yemen
1/11/2017: Urgent measures to improve hygiene practices underway inside Rohingya refugee camps
10/11/2017: Bangladesh steps up vaccination for new Rohingya arrivals as measles cases rise
03/11/2017: Malnutrition rates among Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh appear to be at least double earlier estimates
23/10/2017: Two months since outbreak of violence in Myanmar, Rohingya refugee children still at acute risk
20/10/2017: Violence in Myanmar driving up to 12,000 Rohingya refugee children into Bangladesh every week - UNICEF
10/10/2017: World's second largest oral cholera vaccination campaign kicks off at Rohingya camps in Bangladesh
04/10/17: Joint statement by Emergency Relief Coordinator and United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock and UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake
02/10/17: UNICEF appeals for US$76.1 million to assist children affected by the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh

>> Stand with refugee and migrant children

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Rohingya refugee children: UNICEF emergency response in Bangladesh

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Since violence erupted across Rakhine State, Myanmar, on 25 August 2017, some 656,000 refugees have poured across the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh. They have joined the more than 200,000 others who had came in previous cross-border influxes. Almost 60 per cent of the refugees are children.

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Half a million Rohingya refugee children at risk in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh with cyclone and monsoon season on horizon | Press centre | UNICEF

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Half a million Rohingya refugee children at risk in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh with cyclone and monsoon season on horizon | Press centre | UNICEF

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Highlights specific problem that the refugee camps have faced and will face again. Seasonal flooding, cyclones etc risk further endangering refugees already living in sparse circumstances. Critical infrastructure faces the risk of being destroyed.

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UNICEF | Children's Rights & Emergency Relief Organization

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Press release

Half a million Rohingya refugee children at risk in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh with cyclone and monsoon season on horizon

Overcrowding in refugee camps could lead to devastating disease outbreaks, displacement and death

+1 9178930692 COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, 16 January 2018 - The health and safety of more than 520,000 Rohingya children living in overcrowded camps and informal settlements in Bangladesh is likely to be put at even greater risk ahead of upcoming cyclone and monsoon seasons, UNICEF warned today.

"As we get closer to the cyclone and monsoon seasons, what is already a dire humanitarian situation risks becoming a catastrophe. Hundreds of thousands of children are already living in horrific conditions, and they will face an even greater risk of disease, flooding, landslides and further displacement," said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh.

"Unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene conditions can lead to cholera outbreaks and to Hepatitis E, a deadly disease for pregnant women and their babies, while standing water pools can attract malaria-carrying mosquitos. Keeping children safe from disease must be an absolute priority," Beigbeder added.

More than 4,000 suspected cases of diphtheria have been reported among the refugee population, with 32 deaths including at least 24 children. UNICEF and partners have launched a diphtheria vaccination campaign, and are working to provide children and families with access to safe water and sanitation facilities, but overcrowding and the growing risk of extreme weather increases the risk of further outbreaks.

In addition to the increased threat of disease outbreaks, the cyclone season brings an increased risk of flooding and landslides, a direct risk to children's lives. Even a moderate storm could have a devastating impact, with little time to prepare ahead of the start of the cyclone season in march.

Tropical cyclones generally strike Bangladesh in two seasons, March through July and September through December, with the greatest number of storms arriving in May and October. In May last year, Cyclone Mora barreled through the region, destroying approximately one quarter of the makeshift shelters in Rohingya refugee camps and causing widespread damage.

In addition, the regular monsoon rains starting in June could bring devastating landslides and floods. There is a serious risk that shelters, water systems, latrines and other infrastructure could be severely damaged in storms or floods.

The Government of Bangladesh has generously taken in more than 650,000 Rohingya refugees since August 25th already and has been working with UNICEF to deliver life-saving support to the most recent and previous influxes of Rohingya refugees as well the host community in Cox's Bazar.

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Download multimedia materials here: https://weshare.unicef.org/Package/2AMZIFIO0F79

For more information about UNICEF's work with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh visit http://uni.cf/Rohingya

About UNICEF
UNICEF works in some of the world's toughest places, to reach the world's most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone.

Follow UNICEF on Twitter and Facebook

For further information please contact:

Joe English, UNICEF New York, jenglish@unicef.org,

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Half a million Rohingya refugee children at risk in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh with cyclone and monsoon season on horizon

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COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, 16 January 2018 - The health and safety of more than 520,000 Rohingya children living in overcrowded camps and informal settlements in Bangladesh is likely to be put at even greater risk ahead of upcoming cyclone and monsoon seasons, UNICEF warned today.

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Inside the Rohingya refugee camps | Reuters.com

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Inside the Rohingya refugee camps | Reuters.com

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Very little text, mostly photographs. The photographs however capture the reality of life in the Rohingya refugee camps.

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Inside the Rohingya refugee camps | Pictures | Reuters

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A Rohingya refugee stands outside her makeshift shelter at Hakim Para refugee settlement near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, November 21, 2017. REUTERS/Susana Vera