600,000 Rohingya children may flee to BD

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh: Some 600,000 Rohingya children could flee to Bangladesh by the end of the year, a relief group said on Sunday, highlighting the scale of the humanitarian crisis triggered by violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

More than 400,000 Rohingya Muslims have now arrived in Bangladesh from their Buddhist dominated homeland to escape violence that the United Nations says could be ethnic cleansing.

According to the UN, more than half of the refugees are children, and more than 1,100 have arrived alone after trekking mud roads and hills for days. "That number could rise beyond one million by the end of the year if the influx continues, including about 600,000 children, according to UN agencies," Mark Pierce, the Bangladesh chief of Save the Children charity, said.

The UN has also said it was possible that all the estimated 1.1 million Rohingya could flee Rakhine. Bangladesh and relief agencies are struggling to cope with new arrivals sheltering on roadsides, hills and open spaces close to existing camps around Cox’s Bazar, which borders Myanmar.

Aid agencies have said thousands of Rohingya were half-starving and a major health emergency could break out. Bangladesh has announced it will build 14,000 shelters for some 400,000 refugees but has said it was also readying a desolate island where many could be relocated.

Pierce said his group was particularly worried about the traumatised children and orphans who have arrived alone in Bangladesh. "This is a real concern as these children are in an especially vulnerable position, being at increased risk of exploitation and abuse, as well as things like child trafficking," he said.

"Some children have witnessed violence and killing. Some have been shot at, others have seen their homes set on fire. Some have reportedly watched their parents being killed," he said.

The charity said it is setting up safe spaces in the camps for vulnerable children. They would receive 24-hour support and protection while attempts are made to find family members, it said.

Meanwhile, heavy monsoon rain heaped new misery on Sunday on hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohinyga stuck in makeshift camps in Bangladesh after fleeing violence in Myanmar, as authorities started a drive to force them to a new site.

With food and water shortages already making life tough, torrential rain brought back swamp-like conditions to many parts of the border town of Cox’s Bazar which has become a magnet for the Rohingya.

About 7.7 centimetres of rain fell in 24 hours and more is predicted in the next two days, the Bangladesh Weather Department said.

Bangladesh authorities, who have already issued travel restrictions on the Rohingya, launched an operation late on Saturday to get tens of thousands out of roadside camps and hillside shanties into a giant new camp.

The United Nations says 409,000 Rohingyas have now overwhelmed Cox’s Bazar since August 25 when the military in Buddhist-majority Myanmar launched operations in Rakhine state. As existing camps are already full with 300,000 Rohingya fleeing earlier violence, many of the Rohingya have been forced to live in the open air or under flimsy plastic sheets.

On Sunday Myanmar’s government hinted that it may not take back Rohingya who fled across the border, accusing those refugees of having links to the militants. "Those who fled the villages made their way to the other country for fear of being arrested as they got involved in the violent attacks. Legal protection will be given to the villages whose residents did not flee," the government’s Information Committee statement said.

Previous statements have said the country will set up relief shelters in northern Rakhine for Muslims "who can guarantee they are in no way connected to the terrorists".  With thousands more Rohingya arriving each day, Bangladesh authorities fear the refugees could swamp other towns and cities across the country.

But the United Nations is already warning of intolerable conditions in the camps around Cox’s Bazar. The rain "has doubled their misery", said Mohammed Kai-Kislu, police chief at Ukhia near Cox’s Bazar, the new home for many Rohingya.

Aid workers said thousands of Rohingya were drenched by the return of the monsoon after a respite of a few days. Arfa Begum and seven of her family tried to hide under rubber trees near the Balukhali settlement where they arrived five days earlier.

"They evicted us from the rubber plantation," she said, referring to the police and border guards forcing the refugees out of makeshift shelters. "It took hours to find a safe place. We were drenched," she told AFP.

Faced with a spreading mudbath, the Rohingya have started building bamboo carpets to get over flooded land. A human rights expert in Cox’s Bazar urged the government to shut local schools for three days to allow the Rohingya to camp in them. "It is another disaster unfolding. Thousands of Rohingya had no place to hide when the rain came," Nur Khan Liton, who headed Bangladeshi rights group Ain O Salish Kendra said. —