Turkish charity installs solar panels at Rohingya camps

By Meryem Goktas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) has installed solar energy panels on its 5,795 bamboo houses built for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

According to a statement by the foundation, Rohingya have been provided with electricity for the first time at the camps.

IHH has so far built a total of 7,205 bamboo houses, as well as pedestrian paths, stairs, greening work and garbage collection work in areas where these houses are located.

According to the agency’s statement, each house has two compartments and a kitchen, a built-in floor covering, living materials, three wickers, solar energy panel and a chimney-type stove.

Every house -- which is between 16-19 square meters -- is built with bamboos and canvas to withstand monsoon rains, the statement added.

The houses built by IHH have been exemplified by the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) to other non-governmental organizations engaged in humanitarian work.

The agency plans to extend the number of the bamboo houses -- which are located in the Jamtoly, Shafiullah Kata and Gundum camps in Cox's Bazar -- to 13,000, the statement said.

IHH -- which carried out various relief activities for the Rohingya since 1996 -- benefited nearly 835,000 Rohingya since August 24.

The agency provided aid assistance in the fields of health, sheltering, education and rehabilitation while distributing also aid in form of food, water, hygiene kids and clothes.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, some 750,000 Rohingya, mostly children and women, fled Myanmar when Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to the Amnesty International.

At least 9,000 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine state from Aug. 25 to Sept. 24, according to Doctors Without Borders.

In a report published on Dec. 12, the global humanitarian organization 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 has documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.