In the space of a year, almost 1 million Rohingya have fled persecution in Myanmar and taken refuge in Bangladesh. They still live there without rights, in precarious refugee camps, amid an unprecedented humanitarian emergency. An editorial by Action Against Hunger.
Just over a year ago, hundreds of thousands of people belonging to the Rohingya ethnic group poured into Bangladesh, fleeing persecution in their country of origin, Myanmar (also known as Burma). Today more than 900,000 people are housed in makeshift camps in the Bangladeshi region of Cox's Bazar. While their living conditions are extremely precarious, there is no political solution on the horizon and the future of these families remains uncertain.
On 25 August 2017, the exodus of the Rohingya Muslim minority began, following an attack led by a rebel group on thirty police stations and a military base in Myanmar, which triggered an unprecedented new wave of violence and severe repression against civilians. Villages burned, killings, rape: within a matter of months, around 700,000 people (half of them children) fled the state of Rakhine to seek refuge in Bangladesh. After days of walking, they joined the approximately 200,000 people already displaced in the Cox's Bazar area due to the violence of previous years.
Although access to basic services such as latrines, water, food and medical care has improved over the past year, conditions remain very precarious, particularly during the current rainy season. The Kutupalong Balukhali camp, the main site where more than 600,000 people live, stretches across a hilly area, and the deterioration of the ground, combined with incessant rain, is causing landslides and floods that threaten the fragile bamboo-and-plastic-sheet shelters, putting the safety of 200,000 people at risk.
At the same time, overcrowding, poverty, lack of access to basic resources and deplorable sanitary conditions are facilitating the spread of diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, respiratory infections and malnutrition. Nearly 38 per cent of children suffer from chronic malnutrition and 12 per cent are being treated for severe acute malnutrition.
Over the course of a year, more than 700,000 people have benefited from the support provided by Action Against Hunger in the areas of nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, psychological support and livelihoods. Ten community kitchens serve around 11,000 meals a day, primarily targeting children under the age of five, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and people with illnesses or disabilities. In addition, 18 mobile health centres and five health centres operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, are supported by the work of 1,300 members of the Rohingya community, who work hand in hand with the organisation's team and receive a stipend to support their families.
Abdul is 27 years old and used to own a grocery shop in Daoltola, his home town in Myanmar. He fled the attacks 11 months ago with his two daughters and his pregnant wife. She gave birth to a third baby girl a month after their arrival at the Kutupalong camp. "At first, I never thought I'd end up in Bangladesh. We were just running from certain death. We hid in the forest for four days. It was hard for the mothers and the children, and we finally crossed the border. My wife suffered a great deal — she was pregnant and so tired and hungry that she wasn't able to breastfeed my second daughter, who was one year old at the time. There were people who died along the way. When we arrived here, there were so many of us that there weren't enough services for all of us. My children fell ill with malnutrition, but now they're much better."
In Myanmar, his family belonged to the middle class: his father was a doctor and one of his brothers a pharmacist. Today Abdul works as a cook in camp 14, in one of Action Against Hunger's community kitchens. Every day, together with his co-chef and 15 refugee volunteers, he prepares nearly 500 meals for the most vulnerable people in the community. Everyone is invited to sit at the large tables and eat a nutritious meal, to help them cope with the harsh conditions of their daily lives.
To address the poor sanitary conditions in the camps, it is essential that everyone commits to following at least the most basic hygiene practices, especially children: "They learn quickly and share their knowledge with their relatives. It is extremely important to educate the new generation so that behaviours really do change," explains Monina Yasmin, project manager of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programme.
During awareness sessions, Action Against Hunger workers teach the children in the camp a role-playing game to explain how germs are transmitted from one person to another through touch. In turn, the children repeat the seven steps of handwashing. Another very popular game concerns waste management: a volunteer hands each child a ball wrapped in brightly coloured paper. The excitement over the toy quickly leads the children to tear apart the colourful wrapper which, thrown on the ground, sticks to the mud. Gently, the volunteer explains to the children the good habits to adopt in these situations: throwing rubbish in designated areas and burning anything contaminated with organic matter.
On 6 June, the Myanmar government signed an agreement with the United Nations authorising an inspection of the state of Rakhine, with a view to working jointly on the repatriation process. Two months on, international agencies have yet to visit the site. On the Bangladeshi side, the government is considering easing the pressure on the camps by transferring 100,000 people to an island that is currently vulnerable to flooding.
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"We have been told that the repatriation process will begin shortly. International organisations are waiting for access to be granted on the other side of the border. Repatriation must respect international standards, it must be voluntary and guarantee complete safety. For us, the emergency is now: people are suffering, the camps are in poor condition and only 25 per cent of global humanitarian aid has been secured," said Mahadi Muhammad, Action Against Hunger's local director in Cox's Bazar.
Bangladesh does not recognise refugee status for members of this population and Myanmar does not recognise them as citizens. This makes the Rohingya stateless. But when those most directly affected are asked about the prospect of repatriation, the majority give the same answer: "We will not return without a guarantee that we will no longer be persecuted."