Rohingya children forced into exile
Over 600,000 Rohingya have had to flee awful, systematic violence at the hands of the Myanmar military, seeking refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh. Nearly two-thirds are children.
Rohingya refugees react to the camera in the Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar.
COX’S BAZAR / KUTUPALONG REFUGEE CAMP, Bangladesh – The number of Rohingya Muslims who have fled from Myanmar across the border to Bangladesh has now passed 600,000 people after the Myanmar armed forces responded to attacks in late August. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), 60 percent of the Rohingya Muslims who have crossed the border are children.
Yasmin, who's eight-years-old, cries at her makeshift shelter in the Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar. Yasmin’s family, including her father, mother and two brothers, was burned alive by the Myanmar army, She was taken away by her uncle to escape to Bangladesh, like many other Rohingya.
The treatment of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar was described by a top United Nations diplomat in September as the world's "fastest developing refugee emergency" and a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing."
Rohingya refugee children reading the Quran in a makeshift shelter in the Kutupalong refugee camp.
“We ran away because the military killed, raped and tortured many of us. There were 5,000 in our group but only about 2,000 could make it to Bangladesh, the rest were killed or disappeared,” said Muneera Begam, a 24-year-old Rohingya woman who suffered permanent damage in one eye while fleeing her village.
Rohingya children walk to collect drinking water in the Thainkhali refugee camp.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released a drone video shot on October 18 showing thousands of Rohingya Muslims crossing the Nad River into southern Bangladesh. It shows the extent of the exodus, with crowds stretching for kilometres.
A Rohingya refugee boy eats his food in a makeshift tent in the Kutupalong refugee camp.
“Basically they are coming in tired, they need our priority assistance right away. They need water, shelter, food obviously, medicine and nutrition,” said Jean-Jacques Simon, head of communication for UNICEF Bangladesh.
A newborn baby, four days old, with no given name is photographed in a school that's being used as a temporary camp packed with new arrivals.
The government of Bangladesh has said it will build 6,000 separate shelters for Rohingya children. And UNICEF has set up special areas in the camp, reserved for children.
Children look out of a window from a makeshift school in Cox’s Bazar.
“Most of them are affected obviously so they need to draw, they need to discuss, they need to deal with the children,” he told TRT World.
Rohingya refugee boys play football in the Hakimpara refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar.
A report released by UNICEF on October 23 says an estimated 450,000 Rohingya children aged 4-18 years old need education; 270,000 of these children are among the new arrivals.
A Rohingya baby plays in the rainwater while his mother washes clothes in the Balukhali refugee camp.
The report adds that nearly 17,000 children with severe acute malnutrition need inpatient and outpatient treatment, and 120,000 pregnant and nursing women need nutritious supplementary food. There is also an acute shortage of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in the refugee settlements.
A general picture of the Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar.
Faruq, 12, who arrived along with his father and a little sister in the Kutupalong refugee camp from Myanmar a week ago, after his mother was killed and his village was set on fire by the military.
“They raped my mother and later killed her by slitting her throat,” he said, his voice heavy with deep grief and anguish.
A young Rohingya boy carries wood in the Balukhali camp, Cox's Bazar.
In addition to the 615,500 recent refugees, some 300,000 Rohingya refugees were already in the camps, having fled in earlier waves of ethnic violence over the past three decades. The total number of Rohingya refugees is expected to cross the one million mark in the coming weeks, with thousands still crossing the border each day.
Rohingya Muslim refugees, mostly children, await aid at Nayapara refugee camp in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar.
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