Rohingya children at risk of flooding, landslides

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - Education of over 60,000 Rohingya children and host community in Cox’s Bazar of Bangladesh is being disrupted as monsoon rains damaged learning centers.

The situation is particularly grim in the camps where more than 4,000 families have been affected, many of whom have already been relocated to safe places as they are at risk of flooding and landslides due to heavy rainfall for last few days, said a press statement of UNICEF Bangladesh on Tuesday.

“Conditions in the camps and host community are deteriorating rapidly because of the brutal weather and the humanitarian needs here are only likely to grow over the coming days with more downpour expected,” said acting UNICEF Bangladesh Representative Alain Balandi Domsam.

So far, five UNICEF-supported children’s learning centers have been heavily damaged and over 750 have been partially damaged, at least 12 Child Protection centers, 47 water distribution points, over 600 latrines have been affected or damaged.

More than 500,000 Rohingya children are in need of humanitarian assistance in Cox’s Bazar, it added.

- Persecuted people

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017.

Since then, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires, while over 114,000 others were beaten, said the OIDA report, titled "Forced Migration of Rohingya: The Untold Experience."

Some 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar’s army and police and over 115,000 Rohingya homes were burned down and 113,000 others vandalized, it added.

The UN has also documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings and disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces.

In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.