Act quickly, effectively

Jordanian Queen Rania Al Abdullah yesterday called upon the international community to respond "effectively, quickly, and generously" to alleviate the suffering of Rohingyas.

She said it was unforgivable that the crisis was unfolding on the world stage to a largely indifferent audience.

"The world seems to be silent to what many are acknowledging now as an ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslims," she told journalists during a visit to the Kutupalong refugee camp and its nearby areas in Cox's Bazar.

"With no respect or regard for the principles of humanitarian and international law, the discrimination against and the persecution of the Rohingya minority has continued unabated, in full view of the world," the Queen said.

She reached Cox's Bazar in the morning to see the Rohingya situation on the ground. State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam received her. State Minister of Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroze Chumki was also present.

The Jordanian queen spoke of the shocking escalation of violence against the Rohingyas in Myanmar.

"One has to ask, why is the plight of this Muslim minority group being ignored? Why has this systematic persecution been allowed to play out for so long?"

In her capacity as a board member of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and as an advocate of the work of UN humanitarian agencies, she toured the Kutupalong refugee camp. She met several Rohingya women and children, who recently crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar's Rakhine.

Describing their stories, Queen Rania mentioned Rohingyas' accounts of children orphaned, women brutalized, family members butchered, and villages burned.

"Before coming here, I had braced myself to witness some desperate conditions, but the stories I heard today [yesterday] were heartbreaking and harrowing," she said.

She heard of systematic rape of young girls, who were trapped in schools and raped by soldiers. "I've heard of babies being kicked around like footballs and stomped on. I've heard family members telling me how they've seen their parents killed, right before their eyes."

"This is something that is unacceptable," Queen Rania said.

She visited emergency services offered by humanitarian agencies at the camp, stopping at a UNHCR-run healthcare centre as well as at a school that has been turned into a shelter to host hundreds of new arrivals, including unaccompanied children.

She then proceeded towards the surrounding makeshift settlements, which were recently set up to provide shelter to incoming refugees.

The Queen, also the first Eminent Advocate for Children of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), stopped by a child learning centre run by the agency, as well as a primary healthcare centre run by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

She stated that 95 percent of Rohingyas did not have access to safe water and more than three-quarters of them lacked food.

Queen Rania's visit to Bangladesh coincides with a high level pledging conference taking place in Geneva on Monday, aiming to mobilise international resources for the Rohingya Crisis Response Plan.

The plan, which calls for $434 million to help 1.2 million people through February 2018, is currently only 26 percent funded.

"This visit helps draw attention to the incredible generosity of the government and people of Bangladesh, and helps maintain support to the fastest-growing refugee emergency today," said Louise Aubin, UNHCR's senior emergency coordinator in Cox's Bazar.