Rohingya Refugee Crisis Hits 7-Year Mark
BRANDVOICE| Paid Program
Aug 29, 2024,11:46am EDT
Updated Aug 29, 2024,
11:47am EDT
As refugees in Cox’s
Bazar, Bangladesh, struggle to withstand major threats to their health and
well-being, conflict and crises continue back home in Myanmar. UNICEF teams are
on the ground in both countries doing what they can to make sure children and families
are supported and protected. Donor support is needed to help sustain and scale
these efforts.
Two of roughly 500,000 Rohingya refugee children growing up in camps in Cox's
Bazar, Bangladesh. Many child refugees were born there. “Over the past 12
months, we have been increasingly concerned about the security situation in the
camps and reports of child rights violations," UNICEF Executive Director
Catherine Russell said in an Aug. 25 statement marking the seventh anniversary
of the crisis. "We stand ready to support the new interim government of
Bangladesh to ensure that these children are protected and have access to
critical services."
©
UNICEF 2024
A protracted
emergency: UNICEF’s ongoing support for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh amid
rising malnutrition, other threats to children
On Aug. 25, 2017, hundreds of
thousands of Rohingya families started pouring into Bangladesh, fleeing by boat
or on foot to escape brutal violence and persecution in Myanmar's western
coastal state of Rakhine.
In a matter of days, there were
over 700,000 new refugees sheltering in Cox's Bazar, a district of Chittagong
on the Bay of Bengal. They joined the refugees who were already there, the
result of previous waves of displacement, bringing the total Rohingya
population to nearly 1 million.
Seven years later, the Rohingya
refugees are still there — still exiled from their home country, their futures
uncertain; living in temporary shelters in congested camp settings that are
highly vulnerable to extreme weather and other climate shocks, and completely
dependent on humanitarian assistance.
Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar remain solely dependent on humanitarian
assistance with limited or no source of livelihood. While UNICEF and partners —
including the new interim government — continue to provide lifesaving services
including safe water, sanitation, education, nutrition, health and protection
from violence, the needs are massive, requiring long-term investments until it
is safe for repatriation back to Myanmar.
©
UNICEF/UNI622206/NJIOKIKTJIEN
Working with the interim
government of Bangladesh and other partners, UNICEF has been and continues to
provide water and sanitation to refugee
children and families, support diarrheal treatment centers, enable access to
other health and nutrition services for children
and pregnant women, ensure children's access to quality education and support
children affected by violence, abuse and neglect with protection and response services.
UNICEF also provides treatment
for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the form of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).
The number of Rohingya refugee children suffering from SAM, also called child wasting, has spiked in recently
months, prompting UNICEF to ramp up supplies.
“Bangladesh’s continued support
to the refugee population — especially children — is both commendable and
critical,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said. “Over the past 12
months, we have been increasingly concerned about the security situation in the
camps and reports of child rights violations. We stand
ready to support the new interim government of Bangladesh to ensure that these
children are protected and have access to critical services.”
Learn more about what UNICEF is doing to help Rohingya
refugees.
UNICEF also responding
to crises for children inside Myanmar
Meanwhile, conflict continues to
intensify in Rakhine. There has been a recent surge in the number of civilian
casualties and further displacement of children and families, prompting more
people to seek shelter and protection in Bangladesh.
Humanitarian crises are
multiplying all across Myanmar, in fact. UNICEF reports that conditions
are dire and rapidly deteriorating, with health and education systems near
collapse.
UNICEF teams inside Myanmar are
doing what they can to protect children's rights and support their access to
essential services. Yet humanitarian access remains extremely challenging.
UNICEF is calling on all parties
to conflict in Myanmar to uphold their obligations under international
humanitarian law and international human rights law to protect civilians,
particularly children, and ensure their safety and well-being.
UNICEF is also calling for safe
and unimpeded access to deliver humanitarian aid by all humanitarian actors.
Learn
more about UNICEF’s mission in Myanmar.
UNICEF works in over 190 countries
and territories to create a more equitable world where all children are
healthy, educated, protected and respected.Support UNICEF. Donate today.
Maryanne Murray Buechner is Deputy Editorial Director at UNICEF
USA. Based in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, she is a former daily newspaper reporter
and contributor to TIME magazine. She holds an M.S. from Columbia University’s
Graduate School of Journalism and a B.A. from Georgetown. Her musings about
being an American expat in Tokyo from 2007-2012 live on in the blogosphere.
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