Turkey to build shelters for Rohingya in Bangladesh

By Kubra Chohan

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish Red Crescent on Wednesday inaugurated a community center in southeastern Bangladesh for Rohingya refugees who fled state persecution in Myanmar.

“We are not leaving Rakhine people alone!” the aid agency said in a statement.

The Hope Village Community Center “focuses on increasing the resilience and self-reliance of refugees in Cox's Bazaar”.

A ground-breaking ceremony also took place for 1,000 shelter units -- which will be a continuation of 200 previously-built ones -- to be built in Cox’s Bazaar.

The statement also said 1,000 food parcels and umbrellas were distributed to refugees in Burmapara-2 camp in cooperation with the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society.

The Turkish Red Crescent is the largest humanitarian organization in Turkey, with an international network to help other nations in need.

The non-profit and volunteer-based social service institution is providing unconditional aid and service, and is a corporate body governed by special legal provisions.

Disaster management, blood donations, healthcare, first aid, international aid and immigration and refugee services are among the agency’s activities.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, more than 750,000 refugees, mostly children and women, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to Amnesty International.

At least 9,400 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine from Aug. 25 to Sept. 24 last year, according to Doctors Without Borders.

In a report published recently, the humanitarian group said the deaths of 71.7 percent or 6,700 Rohingya were caused by violence. They include 730 children below the age of 5.

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.

The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel.