A Critical Humanitarian Emergency

Humanitarian organizations are very worried about the well-being of hundreds of thousands of people affected by the recent violence in the northern Rakhine State in Myanmar. A military crackdown has sent over a half-million members of Myanmar’s long-persecuted Rohingya people fleeing across the border into Bangladesh. International concern is growing over the fate of the families who have been fleeing this army campaign in the Rakhine state that the United Nations says has included killings, rape and the torching of villages.

The violence which began on August 25, 2017 has driven 507,000 Rohingya people across the border into Bangladesh, most of these into the Cox’s Bazar area. The speed and scale of the influx has resulted in a critical humanitarian emergency.

Reading about the situation does not impact one the same as seeing this humanitarian crisis in person. We have learned a lot by receiving daily reports from various reliable sources but more meaningfully, we have learned first hand by touring the camps and by interviewing some of these severely traumatized families regarding their needs.

In this blog, we want to share with you some of what we have understood so far – complimented by photos.  After all, “a picture is worth a thousand words”!

There are many, many needs, food being the foremost. There are thousands of extremely vulnerable individuals including children, pregnant and lactating women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. Many were already experiencing acute food insecurity and malnutrition before the crisis began. Multiple agencies are involved in providing food but so far it has not been possible to reach all equally, in sufficient amounts, or with the needed nutritional content.  The September 24, 2017 Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) report states that 84 percent have received some type of food assistance but only 54 percent have received sufficient food rations to cover daily food needs.  World Renew is working with a local partner CCDB (Christian Commission of Development in Bangladesh) to provide 3,000 households (18,000 individuals) with a food package every two weeks for three months. Rice, lentils, oil, sugar, salt and high energy biscuits will be distributed during a number of bi-weekly distributions– a large undertaking.

The photo below shows one of the ways in which food has been prepared and provided on a small scale to meet the most urgent needs.  This is called “wet feeding”.

Shelter is another huge concern and urgently needed to provide relief from the hot sun and from the ongoing monsoon rains. An estimated 320,000 people are still in need of emergency shelter assistance. The most common habitat that we have seen is row-housing made with bamboo poles covered with thin plastic sheeting with each family, (averaging six members), sharing one room of about eight by ten feet. Between the rows there is a pathway which fills with water when it rains. As the shelters are mostly built on hillsides, the pathway also serves as a drainage system to keep the water away from the shelters.

“WASH” is the term used to describe water, hygiene and sanitation issues. Having these needs met is essential to prevent disease from running rampant through these camps.  There are some tube wells with pumps attached and surrounded by shallow concrete structures to contain the overflow.  These wells and the existing latrines are shared by large numbers of families and the people we spoke to, say there is a great shortage of both of these. The water is used for laundry, bathing, cooking and drinking.

The Government has allocated 2,000 acres for a new camp. Unfortunately, people have begun arriving at the new site before any type of infrastructure and services can be established. There are no roads leading to the site which is preventing the development of infrastructure. Without access to water and sanitation, the risks of an outbreak of disease is greatly increased.

In the health sector, many people are coming in with injuries and also showing signs of malnourishment.  There are also large numbers of cases of ARI (acute respiratory infections) and diarrhea especially in children under five years of age. The government, assisted by UNICEF, Red Cross and other medical NGOs is setting up make shift health centers.

There are large numbers of pregnant women (over 55,000). Dozens of midwives have been deployed, many with special training in humanitarian response, to Cox’s Bazar. These midwives are supporting the health personnel already working around the clock to meet the needs of pregnant women, new mothers, and newborns. They are also responding to the medical needs of survivors of sexual violence.

Please pray for these suffering Rohingya people.  Please pray that World Renew and its partner, the Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh, will be able to implement this proposal for food assistance as efficiently and as soon as possible.