Yearning for relief: Rohingya Refugees.

[Banglar Bir]

Rohingyas face shelter, food crisis
Mohiuddin Alamgir with Mohammad Nurul Islam in Cox’s Bazar
Published: 00:06, Oct 30,2017
Rohingya new arrivals struggled to get shelter, food and other lifesaving supports at the designated mega camp in Cox’s Bazar as the influx of the ethnic minority people of Myanmar into Bangladesh fleeing ethnic cleansing in Rakhine state continued on Sunday.

Rohingyas in their hundreds continued massing at the already overcrowded camp, still under construction, at Balukhali under Ukhia upazila every day.

More than six lakh Rohingyas entered Bangladesh fleeing violence and persecution in their motherland after August 25 and almost half of them already took shelter at the 3,000-acre camp, also known as Kutupalang extension, the biggest such camp in the world.

Rohingyas continued entering Bangladesh through different points of Shah Parir Dwip, Baharchara and Whykhang area crossing the Bay of Bengal and the River Naff, said officials.
Bangladesh authorities were sending them to the mega camp by truck or other vehicles. After reaching Balukhali camp they faced a lot of problems to find out place at the camp.

‘They [new arrivals] are facing crisis of shelter as most of the places near road are already occupied,’ Rohingya community leader at Leda camp Mohammad Ilias said. ‘They usually get place deep into the camp and in some cases share shelter with someone known to them who care earlier,’ he said.
‘As we are living far away from roads, it is taking time to reach relief distributors that forces us to live on mercy of others who get food,’ said Rohingya woman Hosne Ara Begum, who reached the camp on Friday but got no relief materials.

‘We are trying to reach relief to all Rohingyas but cannot due to their mobility,’ said Cox’s Bazar refugee relief and rehabilitation commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam. ‘In some cases we need time to locate them,’ he added.

According to UN estimation on Sunday, 6,07,000 Rohingyas had entered Bangladesh since the beginning of the new influx, what the United Nations called the world’s fastest-developing refugee emergency, on August 25.

Officials estimated that the new influx already took to 10.26 lakh the number of documented and undocumented Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh entering the country at times since 1978.
The new influx began after Myanmar security forces responded to Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army’s reported attacks on August 25 by launching violence what the United Nations denounced as ethnic cleansing.

Terrified, half-starved, exhausted Rohingyas continued arriving in Bangladesh trekking through hills and forests and crossing rough sea and the River Naf on boat and taking shelter wherever they could in Cox’s Bazar.

The Bangladesh government in early September planned to construct the mega camp at Balukhali under Ukhia upazila in Cox’s Bazar with 84,000 sheds for estimated 4.20 lakh Rohingyas. As the influx continued, the government on October 5 decided to build 1,50,000 sheds to accommodate 8 lakh Rohingyas. It became the world’s biggest refugee camp.

Teknaf upazila nirbahi officer Zahid Hossain Siddique on Sunday said that over 1,000 Rohingyas entered through Baharchara, Whykhang and Shah Parir Dwip.

‘During the past 4-5 days, 800-1,100 Rohingyas entered Bangladesh every day,’ he said.
Rohinagys usually cross the River Naf at night and early morning and reach to Hasiakhali Government Primary School, where Bangladesh Army with assistance from other voluntary organisations runs a relief camp.

Handing over some relief materials, the relief camp officials send Rohingyas to Balukhali camp by trucks to join others entering earlier. In most cases Bangladeshi people pay the fare of trucks.
After reaching on the road at Balukhali they usually got tents and other materials for erecting makeshift shelter.

Extremely tired Nabi Hossen, 50, was found sitting beside road at Kutupalong of west side of Madorchara canal on Saturday. He said that truck driver dropped them there. ‘I do not know where I will get place for shelter,’ he said.
http://www.newagebd.net/article/27238/rohingyas-face-shelter-food-crisis

 

[Banglar Bir]

Rohingyas in fuel crisis
Mohiuddin Alamgir with Mohammad Nurul Islam in Cox’s Bazar | Published: 00:05, Nov 02,2017 | Updated: 00:04, Nov 02,2017
Rohingyas entering Bangladesh to flee ethnic cleansing in their homeland Rakhine State of Myanmar are facing acute shortage of cooking fuel as assistance from aid providers is not near the need which is forcing them to fell trees.
Rohingyas and local people said that the international and local aid providers were providing these hapless ethnic minority people from Myanmar with assistances like shelter, food, medication but hardly any cooking fuel.

Rohingyas said that in absence of cooking fuel supply, they needed to collect wood from forests or buy it from local market.

Because of huge demand, firewood price soared significantly in localities of Teknaf and Ukhia in Cox’s Bazar, where Rohingyas took shelter.

Many Rohingyas erected makeshift shelters in reserved forests felling trees and set up shanties on hill slopes causing destruction of about 2,500 acres of forest and now their collection of firewood continued worsening the environment scenario, local people said.
Rohingya man Abdul Karim, living in a camp at Thainkhali, said that they were getting no fuel from anyone.

‘At present, no agency is providing the community with fuel as it is flammable having high risk of fire accident in densely populated shelters,’ said International Organisation for Migration national communication officer Shirin Akhter.

Transparency International Bangladesh in its rapid assessment titled ‘Problems Related to Refuge Provided in Bangladesh to Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (Rohingya)’ on Wednesday said that hills and local forests were cut down during the erection of shelters which was affecting the local environment and biodiversity.

‘The firewood for daily cooking of food is collected from natural sources which is a huge burden to the local forests,’ it said.

Divisional forest official in Cox’s Bazar (south) Ali Kabir said that till October 2, Rohingyas made makeshift camps on 3,000 acres of forest land in Balukhali, Kutupalang and adjacent areas.
‘They have destroyed all trees of about 2,500 acre forests for making makeshift shelters and fuel wood,’ he added.

‘We are estimating total loss as Rohingyas continue to spread to others forest lands,’ he added.
According to UN estimation on Sunday, 6,07,000 Rohingyas had entered Bangladesh since the beginning of the new influx, what the United Nations called the world’s fastest-developing refugee emergency, on August 25.

Officials estimated that the new influx already took to 10.26 lakh the number of documented and undocumented Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh entering the country at times since 1978.
The new influx began after Myanmar security forces responded to Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army’s reported attacks on August 25 by launching violence what the United Nations denounced as ethnic cleansing.

Rohingyas continued entering Bangladesh through different points of Teknaf.
Border Guard Bangladesh 34 battalion second-in-command Major Iqbal Ahmed said that about 2,500 Rohingyas were now staying at zero line, after entering Bangladesh through Anjumanpara border.
Teknaf upazila senior fisheries officer Delwar Hossain, responsible for keeping account of new arrivals, said on Monday that over 1,390 Rohingyas entered Bangladesh through Shah Parir Dwip on Wednesday.

The meeting of parliamentary standing committee on forest and environment ministry in parliament complex on October 10 was informed that Rohingyas destroyed forest trees of Tk 151 crore for erecting makeshift shelters and collecting wood for fuel.

Committee member Yahya Chowdhury said that Rohingyas felled trees of Tk 150.87 crore, a report from forest department showed.
Ali Kabir said the amount of loss definitely has increased as number of Rohingyas increased since then
Local people said that the price of fire wood was increasing every day with the continued influx of Rohingyas. Currently a kilogram of fire wood is selling for Tk 15, which was Tk 8-10 in August.
Rice husk is selling Tk 14-16 per kg which sold for Tk 6-8 two months ago, local people said.
Needs and Population Monitoring report of IOM on October 25 said that 40 per cent of the Rohingyas living in different sites reported to have sourced fuel from local forests and 39 per cent from local markets.

Shirin said that considering the need, international agencies were thinking about distributing briquettes.
‘There are bio gas plants to run community kitchens in Leda and Kutupaong Makeshift Settlements. Agencies have plans to scale up this intervention considering the current high demand of fuel in the settlements,’ she added.
http://www.newagebd.net/article/27456/rohingyas-in-fuel-crisis

 

[Banglar Bir]

DW Stories
Rohingya: Loosing a Son.

https://www.facebook.com/

Noor-Mohamed has made his way from Myanmar to Bangladesh like one million other Rohingya who have been expelled from their homes. But where is his little son?
Watch the full documentary here
http://p.dw.com/p/2mMjn?maca=en-doku-Facebook-dw

 

[Banglar Bir]

12:00 AM, November 09, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:30 AM, November 09, 2017
Food supply gets more challenging
Says WFP country director

Christa Rader
Porimol Palma
UN food agency sees tough days ahead as it struggles to raise funds for continuing food support for over 800,000 Rohingyas amid conflicts in various parts of the world.
"We are knocking at the donors' doors on a daily basis. But there are so many emergencies in this world," said Christa Rader, country director of World Food Programme (WFP) in Bangladesh.

Of the US$77 million sought by WFP for six months until February 2018, the international community has confirmed only US$22 million and pledged US$24 million more.

The WFP call is part of the UN appeal for US$434 million, and donors have so far pledged US$ 344 million in total.

"We hope towards the end of this year some donors will commit some money for the Rohingyas if some money is left over," she said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star at the UN office in the capital on November 7.

She sought more generosity from the international community for the Rohingyas who fled violence in Myanmar and are now in a vulnerable state.

Rader, however, says it is not feasible for the donors to continue funding the large number of Rohingyas for an indefinite period and suggested that some of them make their own living.

The male members of the community can be engaged in establishing the camps in Balukhali of Ukhia, where the Bangladesh government has allocated 3000 acres of land, she said.

Rader said they can also be trained and engaged in producing items needed by the community such as soaps, fuel and stoves.

They could also produce goods, including handicrafts, which can be sold in other parts of the country. However, the private sector needs to come forward if that is to happen, she said.

"I think this will be a win-win situation for Bangladesh and the refugees," the UN official said.

Asked if this would lead to competition in the labour market between the locals and the Rohingyas, especially given the high unemployment rate in Bangladesh, Rader said it was not unlikely.

"But, what to do? This is a dilemma. If some of the refugees are not allowed to make their own living, they would starve... simply starve."

The WFP presently provides 50 kgs of rice, nine kgs of lentils and yellow split peas, and 4 litres of vegetable oil per month for over one lakh households each.

It also provides rice to Action Against Hunger, which in turn prepares hot meals for the new arrivals. New arrivals are also provided with fortified biscuits. The UN Food Agency further provides super cereal food for children under five, pregnant and lactating mothers.

The total cost per month for food support is US$12.83 million, WFP said.

Rader said as there is a shortage of funds, WFP would focus on the most vulnerable people -- small children, nursing women and school-going children -- by providing diversified food through electronic vouchers.

"This will be our focus; not trying to feed a million who could be partially brought into productive jobs," she said.

Mohammad Habibul Kabir Chowdhury, head of Rohingya cell at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, however, said the government has put restrictions on recruitment of the Rohingyas by any Bangladeshi employer as many people in Cox's Bazar are already jobless.
"We have no plan to engage the Rohingyas in any jobs," he told this correspondent.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/food-supply-gets-more-challenging-1488445

 

[Banglar Bir]

Yeni Şafak
UN agency warns of malnutrition crisis amongst Rohingya popula...
An estimated 609,000 people are reported to have crossed the border from Myanmar into Bangladesh since August 25, according to the humanitarian organization, Inter Sector Coordination Group. The U.N. agency said united action amongst all humanitarian organizations on the ground in Bangladesh would be the only way a deepening malnutrition crisis could be avoided.

https://www.facebook.com/

http://www.yenisafak.com/…/un-agency-warns-of-malnutrition-…

 

[Banglar Bir]

2:00 AM, November 11, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:15 AM, November 11, 2017
Aid access still challenging
Says UN official about humanitarian efforts in Myanmar's Rakhine state
Diplomatic Correspondent
Though the Myanmar authorities have agreed to allow the UN to resume food distribution in Rakhine, aid access in the state remains extremely challenging, says the UN.
“Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that aid access in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state remains extremely challenging, with the UN being granted almost no access by the government,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday.

The international Red Cross movement (ICRC) was able to continue providing assistance in the area, he said.

“However, the needs remain high, with the Red Cross movement aiming to reach more than 180,000 people with assistance by the end of the year. Further humanitarian access and assistance is urgently needed.”

Dujarric said the UN secretary-general has called for “full and unfettered access for aid workers in Myanmar, including in Rakhine State, to ensure that all those in need receive assistance.

As a result of the overall limitations on access, the UN could not conduct an independent comprehensive needs assessment in Rakhine, he told journalists.

According to a latest report of US Agency for International Development (USAID), the military operations in Rakhine since August 25 have caused severe food insecurity and mass displacement.

Meanwhile, several hundred more Rohingyas crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar yesterday. According to the local administration, nearly 700 Rohingyas arrived in Cox's Bazar through Shah Porir Dwip point of the Naf river.
ADDRESS HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS
Four UN human rights experts have called upon ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) states, including Myanmar, to address pressing human rights issues during the 31st ASEAN Summit being held in the Philippines from November 10-14.

Recognising the important work of many civil society organisations across the region, the experts expressed concern about “a worrying deterioration in the environment in which they operate”.

They expressed worries over the rising numbers of cases of serious human rights violations in ASEAN states. They also urged the countries to do more to protect all vulnerable groups, reminding governments that inclusion and meaningful participation are elements of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The UN experts are Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Annalisa Ciampi, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard and Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst.
CONCERN OVER TERROR RECRUITMENT
ASEAN defence ministers have voiced concern that Rohingya refugees might be recruited by terrorists. They have urged the ASEAN states to do extra concerning the matter, said Philippines' Secretary of National Defence Delfin Lorenzana, reports InterAksyon, an online news portal of the Philippines.

He was speaking at a programme titled “ASEAN Leadership Amid a New World Order”, hosted by the Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute, at a Manila hotel on Wednesday.

Lorenzana said the matter was amongst a number of considerations raised throughout the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting and ADMM (ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting)-Plus -- a platform of defense ministers from Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and the USA.

“The consensus was for Myanmar to do more to resolve these issues. Because ASEAN says that the concern of ASEAN is that these refugees might find their way into some terrorist camps and train, and then they will train the other camps in the region, and it will become a problem,” the Philippino defence secretary said.
VACCINATION EFFORTS STEPPED UP
An increase in the number of suspected measles cases among the newly arrived Rohingyas and their host communities in Cox's Bazar has prompted the Bangladesh government and UN partners to step up immunisation efforts in overcrowded camps and makeshift shelters close to the border with Myanmar, according to a joint press release of WHO and Unicef released yesterday.

It said nearly 360,000 people, aged between six months and 15 years, among the new Rohingya arrivals in Cox's Bazar and their host communities, irrespective of their immunisation status, would be administered measles and rubella vaccines through fixed health facilities, outreach vaccination teams, and at entry points into Bangladesh.

As of November 4, one death and 412 suspected cases of measles have been reported among the vulnerable population living in camps, settlements, and among the host communities.

As part of stepped up vaccination efforts, 43 fixed health facility sites, 56 outreach vaccination teams and vaccination teams at main border entry points will administer MR vaccine to population aged between six months and 15 years, along with oral polio vaccine to children under five years and TT vaccine to pregnant women.

More than 70 vaccinators from the government and partners have been trained to deliver routine vaccination though fixed sites and outreach teams from tomorrow. The vaccination at the entry points at Subrang, Teknaf has been going on since November 1.

Earlier, Communist leaders from South Asian countries in a statement demanded increased involvement of the UN to ensure "dignified sanctuary" to Rohingya refugees.

“We urge all Communist and workers parties and political forces who support justice to raise their voice against the atrocities and to pressurise Myanmar government to stop brutal sectarian massacre against Rohingyas,” reads the statement signed by seven leaders from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpa...e-crisis-aid-access-still-challenging-1489432

 

[Banglar Bir]

Rohingya children close to starvation due to 'unimaginable' 'health crisis

Rohingya refugees wait to be seen by a doctor at a camp in Bangladesh’s Ukhia district. Thousands of children are suffering from malnutrition despite escaping across the border from Myanmar. Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images
By Kate Hodal
The Guardian
November 10, 2017
‘Rampant malnutrition’ reported following Rohingya exodus from Myanmar to Bangladesh as agencies warn shocking new figures may be tip of the iceberg
One in four Rohingya children who recently fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar is now suffering from life-threatening malnutrition, with aid workers warning that refugees are “essentially starving” before they have even crossed the border.

The preliminary findings of a joint nutrition assessment conducted in late October at Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar show that severe acute malnutrition rates among child refugees under five have doubled since May, while nearly half of young children are also underweight and suffering from anaemia.

The figures – already above international emergency levels – are likely to increase, warned aid agencies, since the assessment surveyed only 10% of the population in need, and included families who had arrived before as well as after violence erupted in Rakhine state in August.
Once data is taken solely from new arrivals, malnutrition – and with it the risk of diarrhoea, dysentery, respiratory infections and measles – is expected to increase.

“The conditions we are seeing in Cox’s Bazar create a perfect storm for a public health crisis on an unimaginable scale,” said Cat Mahony, emergency response director in Cox’s Bazar for the International Rescue Committee.

“These shocking figures substantiate the IRC’s own findings on worrying food insecurity: three in four do not have enough food, and 95% of the population are drinking contaminated water. This is especially serious, as agencies report that two-thirds of the water in Cox’s Bazar is contaminated with faeces.”

Malnutrition rates among children in northern Rakhine state were above emergency thresholds even before the recent exodus. But severe acute malnutrition has increased tenfold since last year, according to the joint assessment by Save the Children, IRC partner Action Against Hunger and Unicef. Conditions have worsened due to acute food and water shortages and unsanitary living quarters in Kutupalong camp, which is home to roughly 26,000 refugees.

More than 600,000 Rohingya men, women, and children have crossed the border from Myanmar to Cox’s Bazaar since August. These families joined an estimated 212,000 Rohingya previously living in Bangladesh. The IRC expects an additional 200,000 new arrivals in the weeks ahead, pushing the total refugee population to more than 1 million.

Severe acute malnutrition can affect anyone but, if left untreated, children under five are up to nine times more likely to die than a well-nourished child.

New arrivals are often forced to set up camp far from the main road where food and medical distribution centres are located, said Save the Children’s Rik Goverde, leaving many refugees facing a long walk simply to get one meal a day.

“Malnutrition is rampant here, absolutely rampant, even among the adults,” said Goverde, speaking by phone from Kutupalong camp.

“Two men just came into the clinic weighing 32kg and 34kg. This hasn’t happened overnight – they have been hungry for a very long time and they are exhausted.”

New arrivals are required to register for an identity card in order to qualify for food distribution, Goverde said, which can take a few days to arrive. Many adults and children are consequently obliged to walk for hours into the forest, where they cut firewood in order to sell it and buy food.

“There are problems here on every sector – this isn’t just about food and malnutrition,” said Goverde. “We’re sure there are children suffering from mental health issues because they’ve suffered terrible things, they’ve lost their parents in the chaos, or seen their parents being shot. It’s truly grim.”

Unicef and other humanitarian agencies are currently treating more than 2,700 acutely malnourished children at 15 treatment centres. But the agencies are overstretched and underfunded, prompting the IRC to launch an emergency response on both sides of the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, which the agency says will require $12m (£9m) over the next year.

The response will include four 24-hour care centres to treat severe acute malnutrition, as well as six “one stop shops” that will deliver critical assistance and child protection. The aim will be to reach 80,000 refugees within the first six months.

Two more nutrition evaluations are planned for this month, including one at a makeshift settlement. The findings from the three assessments will help update the projected number of children expected to suffer severe acute malnutrition over the next few months, guiding the emergency response, said Unicef’s Jean-Jacques Simon.

“There is an urgent need to prioritise families with malnourished children and come up with a minimum package of effective interventions to safeguard the health and wellbeing of these children,” said Simon.
http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2017/11/rohingya-children-close-to-starvation.html

 

[Banglar Bir]

12:00 AM, November 12, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:35 AM, November 12, 2017
Food, Shelter to Rohingyas: $882m needed for 10 months
Estimates CPD, warns the govt int'l support may not continue for long
Staff Correspondent
Centre for Policy Dialogue yesterday said an estimated $882 million or Tk 7,126 crore would be needed to provide food, shelter and other support to the Rohingyas until June next year.
It also said the expenditure for each Rohingya over the period would be Tk 59,388.

The independent think tank came up with the figures based on the estimate of the UN, which said $434 million would be needed for the Rohingyas in Bangladesh between September and February next year.

The humanitarian support currently provided by the international organisations would not continue for a long period. Hence, the burden would be on the government of Bangladesh, CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun said while presenting a paper on the implications of the Rohingya crisis for Bangladesh.

“Given the present budgetary framework for fiscal 2017-18, there is not much room for additional public spending,” she said.

Fahmida presented the paper at a dialogue titled "Addressing Rohingya Crisis: Options for Bangladesh" at Khazana Gardenia Banquet Hall in the capital yesterday. The programme was chaired by CPD Chairman Prof Rehman Sobhan and attended by diplomats, former ambassadors, international relations analysts and officials from UN agencies and other international organisations.

The CPD termed the Rohingya crisis a multi-dimensional problem for Bangladesh and suggested that the government continue "energetic diplomacy" particularly with the regional partners to solve it.

Discussants at the dialogue recommended taking both soft and hard approaches bilaterally and multilaterally so that the Myanmar authorities take back its nationals soon.

Some of them said the issue is likely to linger and affect Bangladesh in various ways.

They also warned about the risk of security, terrorism, spread of diseases, trafficking of women and children as well as illegal drug trade in the south-eastern region if the Rohingyas stayed there for a long period.

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque said the government wants to see a peaceful solution to the crisis.

He said Myanmar is a close neighbour and Bangladesh has to have good relations with it. The government is currently focusing on signing a bilateral arrangement with the country for the return of the Rohingyas, he added.

Haque said the government was not seeking humanitarian support from the international communities. "Rather, the government asks for political support to solve the Rohingya issue.

“This is a conflict between Myanmar and its own nationals. Bangladesh in no way created this environment. Bangladesh tries to become a responsible and responsive state. A state which responds to humanitarian crisis,” he said.

Fleeing persecution in Myanmar, over 613,000 Rohingyas have entered Bangladesh since August 25.

The CPD said over a million Rohingyas now are staying in the south-eastern region of the country, creating economic, social and environmental challenges for Bangladesh.

Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow at the think tank, said the total number of refugees across the world is 6.5 crore and Bangladesh would be the fourth largest host country for refugees.

“We have shown generosity and it does not depend on resources, it depends on the heart,” he said.

William Moeller, political officer at the US Embassy in Dhaka, said solution lies with Myanmar and Bangladesh is just an innocent bystander to this crisis.

Ragnar Gudmundsson, country representative at International Monetary Fund, said a contingency plan would be very important for Bangladesh.

Anup Kumar Chakma, former Bangladesh ambassador to Myanmar, said Myanmar's relation with countries like China and the US has an impact on the Rohingya issue. He said China, US, India, and Thailand have interests and investments in Myanmar.

Imtiaz Ahmed, professor of international relations at University of Dhaka, recommended "becoming proactive" and sending high-level delegation to countries, particularly to China and India.

Referring to the ongoing atrocities against Rohingyas, Border Guard Bangladesh Director General Maj Gen Abul Hossain said the matter should be taken to the International Court of Justice.

Former ambassador Farooq Sobhan claimed that there was an attempt within Myanmar to permanently solve the Rohingya issue. He said One Belt One Road initiative of China would be seriously jeopardised if the issue was not resolved.

"There is also a potential threat of terrorism due to the crisis," he said.

Prof Sukamol Barua from Buddhist Federation said the Rohingya crisis is not a religious issue. He said local Buddhists were very cautious over the matter.
http://www.thedailystar.net/educati...elter-rohingyas-882m-needed-10-months-1489834

 

[Banglar Bir]

CPD: Tk7,126 crore needed to host the Rohingyas till June 2018
Nawaz Farhin
Published at 11:17 PM November 11, 2017
Last updated at 12:29 AM November 12, 2017

A view of the the Rohingya refugee camp in Tang Khali near Cox's Bazar on October 18, 2017
Reuters
The think tank has estimated the 10-month fund requirement based on an estimation of the UNHCR for six months
A total of $882 million or about Tk7,126 crore will be required as funding until June 2018 for the Rohingyas who have taken refuge in Bangladesh after facing brutal military persecution in Myanmar, says the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

The independent think tank on Saturday disclosed at a dialogue the estimated 10-month fund requirement based on an estimation of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for six months.

With a latest additional requirement of $83.7 million, UNHCR’s total need for the Rohingyas until February next year now stands at $517.78 million, said CPD quoting UN website.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) earlier had estimated $434 million to be the total funding requirement for 1.2 million Rohingyas until February.

Based on these numbers, CPD added, expenditure required per Rohingya for September, 2017-June, 2018 period would be $795 or Tk5,939.

The latest requirement estimated by CPD is equivalent to 1.8% of Bangladesh’s national budget for FY2017-18, 0.3% of the GDP and 2.5% of the total revenue of the country.

The estimations were made in a keynote presented by CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun at the dialogue, titled “Addressing Rohingya Crisis: Options for Bangladesh,” organised at a Dhaka hotel on Saturday.

Fahmida said the Rohingya crisis has hit the locals in Cox’s Bazar as a social disaster, affecting population growth, and causing health and sanitation problems.

“The total forest area in Cox’s Bazar is nearly three million acres and around 3,500 acres of it has already been lost due to the Rohingya influx,” she said.

Since August 25, following a military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, about 625,000 Rohingyas have entered Bangladesh, according to the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission.
Draft proposal
At Saturday’s dialogue, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque said the government has drafted a proposal for an agreement with Myanmar to repatriate the Rohingyas.

“We are taking all kind of preparations to solve the crisis and peaceful efforts are still underway. The foreign minister will meet Myanmar officials on November 23 in this regard.”

He also emphasised political support received from the international community, rather than the economic ones, to solve the crisis. “Myanmar is our neighbour and we need to resolve this peacefully, maintaining our friendship.

CPD Chairman Prof Rehman Sobhan stressed on organising an international conference to find out ways on how to solve the Rohingya crisis. “The Rohingyas need to be sent back to Myanmar voluntarily, not forcefully.”
He said the crisis had hit Bangladesh’s economy, society and environment most.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2017/11/11/cpd-rohingyas-funding-unhcr/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Rohingya Blogger
Doctors at one of the main refugee camps in Bangladesh - Kutapalong - say conditions are so bad a fatal epidemic could break out at any time. They warn children are most at risk.

https://www.facebook.com/

Sky News Correspondent Ashish Joshi reports from the region, and speaks to Rohingya orphan Zoora Khatun, whose mother, father, brothers and sisters were all killed in a massacre.
Video Credit to Sky News

 

[Banglar Bir]

10:28 AM, November 15, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 10:43 AM, November 15, 2017
FROM MALAYSIAN BACKROOMS
Rohingyas send what little they can to fleeing relatives

Rohingya refugee Mohammed Siddiq poses for a photo in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on November 2, 2017. Photo: Thomson Reuters Foundation/ Beh Lih Yi
Thomson Reuters Foundation, Kuala Lumpur
In a dimly lit shop in Kuala Lumpur, where dried fish, herbs and pickled tea leaves imported from Myanmar are on display, two men sit behind a counter inspecting bank notes.
“We send money to Balukhali and Kutupalong everyday,” one of the men, wearing a long white robe and an Islamic skullcap, said to a Rohingya man approaching the counter.
“Send today, money arrives on the same day,” he said.

The shop is among many in the Malaysian capital that Rohingya use to send money to the two vast refugee camps in Bangladesh since a military crackdown in August prompted over 600,000 members of the ethnic group to flee Myanmar.

A sign outside a licensed money transfer company in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on November 2, 2017. Photo: Thomson Reuters Foundation/ Beh Lih Yi
The Rohingya, a Muslim minority denied citizenship in Myanmar, have been escaping persecution in their mostly Buddhist homeland for decades but the latest exodus was the worst in years.

With Rohingya families still heading to the camps, refugees who left in earlier waves who have managed to establish some sort of modest livelihood are pooling together their limited resources to send money to the newly displaced.

Much is flowing from Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country that is home to more than 50,000 Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers, where many of them work as daily labourers, hawkers and construction workers.

Money transfer companies have reported a spike in remittances since the crisis erupted in August.

But the community is also tapping popular mobile money services and a centuries-old transfer system with roots in the Middle East to send financial aid to the camps for families to buy food, medicine and other necessities.
‘They have nothing now’
Rohingya refugee Kamal, who has been in Malaysia since 2012, said his parents and six siblings fled to Bangladesh's Balukhali camp in October and are counting on him for financial support.

Among them is his 65-year-old diabetic father who needs a regular supply of medicine.

“They have nothing now, they have to buy every single thing,” Kamal told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a rented low-cost flat on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur that he and his wife share with another couple.

“To boil water, they have to buy firewood and a bunch of wood is 40 taka (50 cents), which is enough to get a meal,” said the 30-year-old refugee, who uses a pseudonym to protect his identity.

Inside a store frequented by Rohingya refugees in central Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on November 2, 2017. Photo: Thomson Reuters Foundation/ Beh Lih Yi
Kamal uses bKash, a popular Bangladeshi mobile money service, to send money to his family from wages he earns working odd jobs - sometimes 1,000 taka ($12)and sometimes up to 5,000 taka ($60) - as often as he can.

His family pick up the money in Bangladesh from certified agents using a code.

An employee at a licensed money transfer firm in Pudu, an area in central Kuala Lumpur frequented by refugees, said she had received an average of 30 money transfer requests daily to Bangladesh since the latest violence erupted.

In the past, Myanmar refugees would typically send money to their homeland, rather than Bangladesh, said the staff member, who declined to give her name.

Remitting money through an official transfer store requires the Rohingya to show their UN refugee cards.

That's not something all Rohingya in Malaysia possess – it can be a slow process for a newly arrived asylum-seeker to apply for refugee status, and applications are not always successful.

Those without official documents have turned to a network of informal transfer outlets modelled on the ancient “hawala” system which is based on trust, and typically leaves no paper trail.

The system involves agents accepting funds in one country and promising to pay a beneficiary in another country in exchange for a fee that is smaller than at a bank.

Hawala is popular among migrants in the Middle East and has been used to remit money to remote areas, where banking is out of reach or too costly.
Trust, personal ties
Mohammed Siddiq, 34, hands over cash to one of these agents every month to send money to his family in a camp for displaced people in Sittwe, the capital of Myanmar's western Rakhine state.

The agent notifies his counterparts in Sittwe, and the money is delivered to his family inside the camp.

“We trust our people, the agents have been loyal to us,” said Siddiq, who has been in Malaysia for 13 years and supports himself by delivering chickens to shops.

“I have to trust these people because my family members in the camp have no other resources. I was afraid and worried but there is no other way.”

Most of these services are run from grocery stores or restaurants popular with the Rohingya community in downtown Kuala Lumpur, often from an unmarked backroom.

Siddiq said he uses the services because sometimes, when he was short of cash to send to his family, the agents would loan him money and note down the debt which he could repay later.

A Rohingya man, who used to be an agent, said refugees rely on the system because of trust and personal ties, and their family is able to collect the money usually within a few hours.

“Most of the time when the Myanmar people here have to send money it involves an emergency, so this is quick and efficient,” said the refugee, who declined to give his name.

But he stopped acting as a middleman after a few months, partly because too many Rohingya were turning to him to borrow money.

“It is hard to say no to friends, relatives because they are in emergency,” he said. “But later they disappeared, and I kept making losses.
Related Topics
Myanmar Rohingya refugee crisis
http://www.thedailystar.net/rohingy...m_medium=newsurl&utm_term=all&utm_content=all

 

[Banglar Bir]

CAID set to build eco-friendly living space in Rohingya camps
Tarek Mahmud
Published at 01:41 PM November 15, 2017
Last updated at 04:04 PM November 15, 2017

Rohingya refugee Nur Hafes, 12, holds his umbrella as he protects himself from the sun at Palongkhali refugee camp, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on October 27, 2017 Reuters
Md Monir Uddin, CAID’s project coordinator in Cox’s Bazaar, has said they want to create an eco-friendly living space for the refugees
International non-government organisation Christian Aid Bangladesh (CAID) is set to initiate a waste management and gardening project at three Rohingya refugee camps at Ukhiya upazila in Cox’s Bazar.

Md Monir Uddin, CAID’s project coordinator in Cox’s Bazaar, has said they want to create an eco-friendly living space for the refugees.

NGO efforts are currently concentrated at only three out of 12 camps in Burmapara, Balukhali and Jamtoli.

Monir said CAID is going to help set up 500 dustbins at eight blocks of the Jamtoli camp. Presently, the camp’s site management is supported by CAID, with the coordination of other NGOs and administration.

CAID will conduct a pilot study with assistance from Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission (RRRC) at the H-block of Jamtoli where 7,338 Rohingya of 1,664 families are staying.

“If our pilot study proves sustainable, we will go for implementation,” Monir said. “The collected wastes would be processed as compost that can be used as fertiliser. Besides, we are thinking about kitchen gardening at the camp areas.”

The organisation has already distributed 17,000 blankets to 8,500 Rohingya families, 400 tents to 400 families, along with supplementary foodstuff like oil, pulses and others to 15,000 families.

CAID is also going to distribute solar lights, kitchen kits and basic hygiene kits along with mattresses to 10,000 families. They have also set up 90 toilets and 120 tube-wells.

In addition, CAID maintains two medical centres at Jamtoli camp, one of which provides HIV testing services.

CAID Response Manager Umme Khadiza told Dhaka Tribune: “This type of intervention from the native and foreign NGOs support to ensure the quality of lives of Rohingyas and recover the host country’s environmental loss.”

The RRRC estimates that 629,000 Rohingya have so far entered Bangladesh since August 25. The UN has described Myanmar violence as ethnic cleansing.

More are waiting to cross the border. The International Rescue Committee has estimated that over 200,000 Rohingya will enter Bangladesh in the coming weeks.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/banglad...ild-eco-friendly-living-space-rohingya-camps/

 

[Banglar Bir]

ROHINGYA CRISIS
Malnutrition among children worrying
Mohiuddin Alamgir | Published: 00:05, Nov 17,2017 | Updated: 00:44, Nov 17,2017

A Rohingya refugee boy is fed vitamin A during a nutrition campaign at Balu Khali refugee camp near Cox’s Bazar on Thursday. — Reuters photo

The prevalence of severe acute malnutrition among Rohingya children entering Bangladesh is worrying as they live in shanties without adequate food, drinking water and sanitation facilities which expose them to further risk of malnourishment.

These Rohingya children, marginalised back in their homeland, mostly had to walk for days while fleeing ethnic cleansing in Rakhine state of Myanmar. Such exhaustion and inadequate relief assistances were some of the reasons of Rohingya children falling into severe acute malnutrition, according to UNICEF and Save the Children.

The number and rate of Rohingya children with severe acute malnutrition surpassed the estimation of international aid workers and they ring the alarm bell for expediting the relief assistance for Rohingya children to avoid any catastrophe.

UNICEF spokesperson AM Sakil Faizullah and Save the Children Bangladesh director for programme development and quality Reefat Bin Sattar told New Age on Thursday that the increasing number of Rohingya children with severe acute malnutrition was worrying.

The high rate of severe acute malnutrition has severe long-term health consequences for children and such children with medical complications needed specialised care, said Sakil Faizullah.

Against this backdrop the government along with UNICEF and other sectoral partners launched Nutrition Action Week on Thursday, to bolster nutrition interventions for Rohingya children and provide immediate support to about 17,000 under-five children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

‘The government of Bangladesh along with development partners will do everything possible to ensure that the Rohingya children get the required nutrition support,’ health and family welfare state minister Zahid Maleque said while inaugurating the nutrition action week at Balukhali camp in Cox’s Bazar.
‘Nutrition is the right of every child,’ he added.

According to the UN estimation till Thursday, 6,20,000 Rohingyas entered Bangladesh since the beginning of the ongoing influx, what the United Nations called the world’s fastest-developing refugee emergency, on August 25.

A government handout on Wednesday, however, said that 6,30,000 Rohingyas entered Bangladesh till date.

Officials estimated that the new influx already took to 10.39 lakh the number of documented and undocumented Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh entering the country at times since 1978.
The new influx began after Myanmar security forces responded to Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army’s reported attacks on August 25 by launching violence what the United Nations denounced as ethnic cleansing.

Terrified, half-starved and exhausted, Rohingyas continued arriving in Bangladesh in groups trekking through hills and forests and crossing rough sea and the Naf on boat and taking shelter wherever they could in Cox’s Bazar.

UNICEF estimated that of the new arrivals, about 60 per cent were children and 30 per cent were under five years of age.

Inter Sector Coordination Group on Sunday said that they had so far identified 8,867 Rohingya children with severe acute malnutrition and many had taken treatments.

Preliminary data from a nutrition assessment conducted in the past week at the camp at Kutupalong in Cox’s Bazar showed a 7.5 per cent prevalence of life-threatening severe acute malnutrition, a rate double that seen among Rohingya child refugees in May 2017, UNICEF said on November 3.

‘The Rohingya children in the camp, who have survived horrors in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State and a dangerous journey, here are already caught up in a catastrophe,’ said UNICEF Bangladesh representative Edouard Beigbeder.

‘Those with severe malnutrition are now at risk of dying from an entirely preventable and treatable cause,’ he said.

The rate of malnutrition among children in northern Rakhine was above the emergency thresholds, said UNICEF, adding that the condition of these children further deteriorated due to the long trekking through the border and the conditions in the camps

One in every four Rohingya children in Bangladesh is malnourished and at increased risk of death, warned Save the Children on November 2.

The assessment screened 268 children aged 6-59 months, identifying 24.3 per cent having global acute malnutrition (moderate and severe), of which 7.5 per cent was having severe acute malnutrition.

Save the Children’s Emergency Nutrition Adviser in Cox’s Bazar Nicki Connell said, ‘Large number of Rohingya children arriving in Bangladesh is already malnourished. They are put in a situation where they have to rely on food rations to survive, where hygiene standards are poor, where clean drinking water is hard to come by and lots of people are getting sick as a result.’

Sakil Faizullah said that the number of Rohingya children with severe acute malnutrition surpassed primary estimations.

‘In the early days we have estimated that about 7,000 children might suffer from severe acute malnutrition but it is increasing every day,’ he said.

‘Relief assistance for Rohingya children is still not satisfactory, but we all are trying our best to address the issue,’ said Reefat Bin Sattar.

During nutrition action week, at least 80 per cent of 176,756 children aged 06-59 months would be given Vitamin A capsules, 80 per cent of 118,427 children aged 24-59 months would be provided deworming tablets, 176,756 children aged 06-59 months would undergo nutrition screening and malnourished children would be referred for nutrition treatment programmes.

Information on important breastfeeding practices and appropriate feeding practices would also be given to the mothers, said UNICEF.
http://www.newagebd.net/article/28522/malnutrition-among-children-worrying

 

[Banglar Bir]

Struggle of vulnerable Rohingyas continues
Mohiuddin Alamgir | Published: 00:05, Nov 28,2017 | Updated: 00:12, Nov 28,2017
Vulnerable Rohingyas, including aged people, pregnant and lactating women, orphan children and people with disabilities, entering Bangladesh to flee ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State of Myanmar continue struggling for survival in absence of relief work focused on them.
These Rohingyas taking shelter on hill slopes or erecting makeshift houses cutting forest trees in Cox’s Bazar are highly vulnerable and living in difficult conditions with a little medical facilities and poor access to water and sanitation facilities.

According to an ongoing family counting, jointly conducted by Bangladesh government’s Refugee Relief
and Repatriation Commissioner’s office and UNHCR, one-third of the Rohingya families are vulnerable.

‘Long distribution pathways and a lack of signposting lead to heightened risks for women, children, elderly, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable refugees and increase the problem of children being used by families to collect items,’ said a situation report of Inter Sector Coordination Group, a coordination body of the United Nations and other international agencies working in Cox’s Bazar.
‘Aid workers usually give preference to vulnerable people while carrying out any kind of assistance but it is really important for full-fledged targeted relief activities,’ said Cox’s Bazar refugee relief and repatriation commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam.

‘The speed and scale of the influx has resulted in a critical humanitarian emergency and we need some time to react for targeted relief assistance,’ he added.

According to the UN estimation till Monday, 6,24,000 Rohingyas have entered Bangladesh since the beginning of the ongoing influx, what the United Nations has called the world’s fastest-developing refugee emergency, on August 25.

Officials estimated that the new influx already took to 10.43 lakh the number of documented and undocumented Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh entering the country fleeing persecution at times since 1978.

The new influx began after Myanmar security forces responded to Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army’s reported attacks on August 25 by launching violence what the United Nations denounced as ethnic cleansing.

Terrified, half-starved and exhausted, Rohingyas continued arriving in Bangladesh trekking through hills and forests and crossing rough sea and the Naf on boat and taking shelter wherever they could in Cox’s Bazar.

The latest update of family counting came out on November 23 said that 31 per cent of the 172,356 families counted so far were vulnerable –– 16.20 per cent single mother, 4.50 per cent serious medical condition, 4.15 per cent older person at risk, 3.96 per cent disable, 3.72 per cent with disabilities, 2.50 per cent older people with children and 0.87 per cent unaccompanied children.

Single mothers are holding their families together with little support in harsh camp conditions, said people engaged in the counting process.

Others are struggling with serious health problems or disabilities. There are also a high proportion of elderly people at risk, unaccompanied and separated children – some of them taking care of younger siblings, said people working in family counting.

Children made up 54 per cent of the Rohingyas while women 52 per cent said the latest update of family counting.

The coordination group’s situation report also said that Rohingyas were reliant on humanitarian assistance for food, and other life-saving needs. Basic services that were available prior to the influx are under severe strain due to the massive increase in people in the area.

‘In some of the sites spontaneously emerged, water and sanitation facilities are limited or of poor quality, with extremely high density raising the risks of an outbreak of disease’ it said.

‘Communicable disease risks remain high due to crowded living conditions, inadequate water and sanitation facilities and low vaccination coverage. Mental and psychosocial health needs are immense. Many Rohingya refugees are reported to have been physically and mentally traumatised by the violence, including sexual and gender-based violence. Rates of severe acute malnutrition are running at 7.5 per cent, well over the emergency threshold,’ it read.

‘Local health care facilities and NGOs have limited capacity to treat children with SAM with complications,’ the situation report said.

‘Continuum of care for pregnant women, newborn and children needs to be ensured with periodic home visits from a network of community health volunteers,’ it said.

About 325,069 Rohingya people still need nutrition support, said the report.
http://www.newagebd.net/article/29310/struggle-of-vulnerable-rohingyas-continues

 

[Banglar Bir]

10:24 AM, December 04, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 10:37 AM, December 04, 2017
Only 34pc of $434m fund for Rohingyas raised so far: Report
UN needed to provide assistance to 1.2 million Rohingyas
UNB, Dhaka
Only 34 percent of the $434 million needed to provide assistance to 1.2 million people, including host communities in Cox's Bazar district, has been raised when Rohingyas are still suffering from various problems, says a new report released today.
"Humanitarian partners are working round the clock to respond, but the reality remains that the needs are massive and urgent, and the gaps are wide. More funding is needed," said Mia Seppo, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, but more land is needed to improve conditions in the congested camps, said the UN official.

One hundred days after the start of the most recent influx, the Inter-Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) released the report on the overall status of the humanitarian response to the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh.

There are more than 830,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar: 625,000 of them have poured over the border since August 25.

These Rohingyas are now living in ten different camps, and among Bangladeshi host communities.

One of the camps has become the largest and fastest growing refugee camp in the world, where approximately half a million people are living extremely close to each other without access to basic services such as toilets or clinics.

The Monitoring Report, which covers the first two months of the response from August 25 to October 31, highlights the work of the government of Bangladesh, in cooperation with humanitarian partners who are working to provide relief services for the refugee population and Bangladeshi host communities.

Of the 1.2 million people in need, around half have been reached with assistance.

The report also explains the challenges and gaps that remain.

The risk of disease outbreak is high, and the impact of a cyclone or heavy rain would be massive.

There is not enough land to provide adequate living conditions for the more than 830,000 Rohingyas that now crowd Cox's Bazar.

The report defines life-saving priorities for the coming months.

These include improving nutrition, preventing and managing disease outbreak, adequate planning for the new camps, and improving protection across all areas of the response
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