Sufferings staggering
Two senior United Nations officials, who wrapped up their mission in Bangladesh, have said the appalling situation for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas is not over yet as they are still fleeing their homes in Rakhine and taking shelter in Bangladesh.
"Unfortunately, this appalling situation is not over. People are still crossing from Myanmar into Bangladesh, fleeing for their lives and requiring immediate support," they said in a statement released by the UN in Dhaka yesterday.
"We call again on the Myanmar authorities to allow the full resumption of humanitarian action across all of Rakhine state, and will continue to advocate for conditions to be created that allow for people to safely, securely and voluntarily go home."
Mark Lowcock, Emergency Relief Coordinator and United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, and Anthony Lake, Executive Director of the UNICEF, issued the joint statement after concluding their visit to Rohingya settlements in Cox's Bazar on Wednesday.
Well over half a million displaced Myanmar nationals fled the ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State since Aug 25, making it the world's fastest developing refugee emergency.
"We leave Bangladesh moved by the stories of suffering that we heard from refugees fleeing the violence in Myanmar – and all the more determined that the United Nations do all it can to assist the Government of Bangladesh in coping with this crisis," said the top two UN officials.
They also went on to describe that the Rohingyas arrive in Bangladesh fearful, exhausted and hungry, and in desperate need of shelter, food, clean water sanitation and healthcare. They bring with them terrible accounts of what they have seen and suffered -- stories of children being killed, women brutalised, and villages burned to the ground.
In their joint statement, the officials lauded the government and people of Bangladesh for their "extraordinary spirit of generosity" and termed it "an inspiring example of humanity."
Lowcock and Lake were also impressed by the progress being made to assist the refugees at the camps and settlements they visited.
"We saw the difference that the Government, the Bangladesh Armed Forces, UN agencies and our national and international NGO partners are making. But the needs are growing at a faster pace than our ability to meet them."
Noting that the refugees are living in ramshackle shacks in sprawling, densely-crowded sites that have sprung up to accommodate them – with ever-growing risks of an outbreak of diseases – they underscored the urgency for funding to make sure all refugees have access to food, shelter, water, sanitation facilities and healthcare.
"Conditions in the temporary settlements are dire. Without a significant increase in assistance, the refugees, who have suffered so much already, could face another catastrophe on top of the tragedies that caused them to flee their homes."
An update to the UN response plan released yesterday sought $430 million to scale up the relief operation in support of the refugees and the host communities urgently. An additional $12 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund has been allocated to assist in the establishment of new sites for arriving refugees.
UNHCR
The UNHCR, together with Bangladesh government authorities and other partners, are working to contain an outbreak of diarrhoeal diseases, with nearly 4,800 cases reported last week, the UN said.
A diarrhoea treatment centre opened in the Kutupalong Refugee Camp and by the end of this week, there will be a total of 80 beds in the diarrhoea treatment centres in three locations. Two more centres are expected to open next week.
Meanwhile, the newly appointed Ambassador of Sweden to Bangladesh, Charlotta Schlyter, who presented credentials to President Abdul Hamid yesterday, lauded Bangladesh for its very substantial efforts in assisting nearly half a million people from Myanmar.
UK SENDS HUMANITARIAN AID
The UK government's Department for International Development in collaboration with IOM, the UN Migration Agency, has organised a major airlift of relief items to help the Rohingyas in Bangladesh.
The provision of 10,000 shelter kits, 10,500 sleeping mats and 20,000 blankets will help improve the lives of thousands of people who are living in makeshift settlements around Kutupalong and Balukhali, according to a British High Commission press release.
Distribution of the aid began on Wednesday through IOM and will continue next week.
The British government announced £30 million to meet the urgent humanitarian needs, it added.
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