Proposed shelter site not habitable yet

The land that has been allocated for building a new site for Rohingyas is "not suitable" for habitation yet, says a new report on Sunday.

Population movement within Cox's Bazar remains highly fluid with the increasing concentration on Ukhia where the government has allocated 2,000 acres for a new camp, according to the report.

People have begun arriving in the newly proposed site before the establishment of infrastructures and services.

Most importantly, the report claims, there is a limited access to the site in the absence of roads, preventing the development of infrastructures, and creating hindrance to ensure facilities like water and sanitation.

"There's no road access, and the population density in accessible areas is extremely high which poses multiple risks," says the report. The news agency obtained a copy of the report.

An estimated 4,70,000 people are in need of shelter that includes people who arrived before and after August 25, according to the Situation Report: Rohingya Refugee Crisis prepared by the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG).

The report covered the situation from September 16-21, 2017. The next report will be issued on October 1.

Of all the new arrivals, 4,29,000 are in need of emergency food assistance. Among the new arrivals, an estimated 55,770 pregnant and nursing mothers, and children under five, require targeted food assistance.

Some 5.8 million food rations are required to meet people's emergency food assistance needs.

Since 25 August, food security partners have provided 4.6 million individual food rations, reaching out to 358,979 people or 84 per cent of the population with some form of food assistance.

Of the new arrivals, 6,219 pregnant and nursing mothers, and children under five -- 11 per cent of the target population -- have received a targeted food assistance, says the report.

The vast majority of food assistance provided is rice and fortified biscuits; only 83,639 new arrivals have received a full food ration. Meanwhile, conditions across all the sites have been severely affected by heavy rains.

There is a significant need for camp management staff and agencies should be allocated to all sites to ensure site coordination, said the report. 

Since 25 August, 30,000 households with 150,000 people have been provided with emergency shelter kits.

The Bangladesh government has deployed the army to support the distribution undertaken by the government and private individuals.

The army is planning to support the construction of new roads to ensure better access to all sites, said the report.

As of September 23, the government has brought 13,418 refugees under its biometric registration scheme with scores of others still waiting to be registered.

UNHCR has deployed equipment and technical capacity to support the government in this process.

Violence in Rakhine State, which began on August 25, has driven an estimated 4,36,000 Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh.

The scale of the influx has resulted in a humanitarian emergency, the report added.