© Mohammed Kayas, refugee volunteer
After fleeing violence in Myanmar, almost one million Rohingya refugees are living in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh.
The situation is dire. Food rations have been cut twice in recent months due to lack of funding. This means refugees have just $12 per month to spend on food – or 40 cents per day.
Natural disasters – especially fires and monsoonal floods – pose a constant threat. Recently, a fire ravaged one of the camps, destroying or damaging 976 shelters. More than 200 facilities including learning centres, healthcare centres and latrines were also destroyed.
UNHCR and its partners are providing emergency assistance and psychological support. But more help is needed.
In the cramped camps, communities are at high risk of diseases such as cholera and scabies. Children are unable to get a formal education in Bangladesh, while their parents don’t have work rights. Though many families wish to return home, it’s still unsafe to do so.
After enduring so much hardship, refugees are trying to rebuild their lives.
Please send help to Rohingya refugees now.
Your donation can make a life-changing difference for a Rohingya refugees. With your support, UNHCR can provide malnutrition screening and therapeutic food for hungry children. We can also help communities prepare for and recover from fire and flood, and improve hygiene and sanitation in the camps.
Your gift can provide disaster kits with sleeping mats, tarpaulins and aqua tabs.
Your gift can provide malnutrition screening and therapeutic food for vulnerable children.
Your gift can provide skills training to help refugees earn an income in Cox's Bazar.
The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar. Over a million Rohingya refugees have fled violence in successive waves of displacement since the early 1990s. The latest exodus began on 25 August 2017, when violence broke out in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, driving more than 723,000 to seek refuge in Bangladesh. The vast majority reaching Bangladesh are women and children. Many others are elderly people, requiring additional aid and protection.
Most families cross the border into Bangladesh and end up in the refugee settlements of Kutupalong and Nayapara in the Cox’s Bazar district.
The camps are vast, overcrowded and basic. Cox's Bazar is the largest camp of its kind in the world, with more than 900,000 people living in just 13 square kilometres. Infrastructure and services are stretched to the limit, with many families lacking adequate shelter, clean water and proper sanitation.
UNHCR teams are hard at work in all the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar – providing life-saving essentials to families. We also support education and healthcare initiatives, such as immunisation programs to protect against disease. UNHCR also helps refugees fortify their shelters and prepare for the monsoon season.
The majority of funds raised by Australia for UNHCR are directed to UNHCR’s emergency operations, providing the ready funds and resources to respond quickly and effectively in situations of crisis and disaster.