Influx of Rohingya outpaces capacities to respond
In Bangladesh, UN refugee chief warns influx of Rohingya
outpaces capacities to respond
25 September 2017 –
The United Nations refugee chief today called for ramped-up
support for an estimated 436,000 Rohingya refugees who have
fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar in the last month, warning
that the massive influx of people seeking safety far
outpaces capacities to respond.
“Their situation
remains desperate, and we risk a dramatic deterioration if aid
is not rapidly stepped up,” UN High Commissioner for
Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a press release, following a
visit yesterday to Kutupalong refugee camp and other areas
along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border where people have made
their own shelters on tiny slivers of land.
“Despite
every effort by those on the ground, the massive influx of
people seeking safety rapidly outpaced capacities to
respond, and the situation has still not stabilised. More is
needed, and fast, if we are to avoid further
deterioration,” Mr. Grandi said.
UNHCR has now
airlifted three planes loaded with relief items into the
country, and is distributing emergency shelter kits, kitchen
sets and solar lamps.
Its experts are working closely
with the Government of Bangladesh to set up an organised
site with water, sanitation and other facilities, and to
register the new arrivals. Other international agencies and
civil society partners are also on the ground.
Mr. Grandi
arrived in Bangladesh on Saturday to see conditions for
himself. He spoke with families living in the camp near
Cox’s Bazar.
“They had seen villages burned down,
families shot or hacked to death, women and girls
brutalized. Many of the refugees said they would like to go
home, but there needs to be an end to violence, and a
restoration of rights inside Myanmar,” Mr. Grandi
said.
“Solutions to this crisis lie within Myanmar. But
for now, our immediate focus has to be to dramatically
increase support to those who are so desperately in need,”
Mr. Grandi said, stressing the importance of a proper
registration system that could help ensure everyone is
eventually able to exercise the right to return.
In the
country’s capital, Dhaka, Mr. Grandi was scheduled to meet
several senior officials, including the foreign minister as
well as the ministers for home affairs and disaster
management and relief.
Mr. Grandi thanked Bangladesh for
keeping the border open. “In today’s world, that is
something that cannot be taken for granted and should be
appreciated.”
Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said yesterday that a
consignment of its emergency suppliesfor hundreds of
thousands of refugee Rohingya children and their families
has arrived in Dhaka.
The cargo plane arrived from
Copenhagen with 100 tons of supplies comprising water
purifying tablets, family hygiene kits, sanitary materials,
plastic tarpaulins, recreational kits for children and other
items.
“Safe water for drinking and washing is
absolutely essential in order to protect them against
diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases,” said Edouard
Beigbeder, UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh, warning that
this is “a very real threat” especially amid the current
heavy rains.
Other consignments – consisting of school
bags, tents, early childhood development kits, family
hygiene and dignity kits, tarpaulin and nutrition materials
– were also on their way to
Bangladesh.