Turkish medical students serve Rohingya in Bangladesh’s refugee camps

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - A 10-member volunteer team of medical and nursing students from different Turkish universities served Rohingya patients in Bangladesh's refugee camps.

The team visited Bangladesh as part of the 2022 Experience Sharing Program organized by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).

Members of the team carried out health camping, examinations, and awareness-raising activities at the Turkish Field Hospital in Balukhali Refugee Camp in the border district of Cox's Bazar, the TIKA's Dhaka office said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

They distributed 1,000 hygiene kits containing three liters of liquid hand soap, liquid dishwashing and laundry detergent produced by the Turkish Diyanet Foundation in the Rohingya camps.

As part of the environmental awareness campaign, they also planted 200 fruit trees at suitable locations in the world's largest refugee camp, which is home to over 1.2 million Rohingya, the majority of whom fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state in August 2017.

The Turkish Field Hospital is one of the largest health care facilities in the camps, serving over 1,000 Rohingya Muslims on a daily basis.

It employs nearly 30 Turkish staff, as well as many Bangladeshis and Rohingya, and provides all of its services for free.

Students who had the opportunity to perform health screening, examination, and observation at the Turkish Field Hospital affiliated with the Ministry of Health also conducted hygiene and health awareness activities for 250 women at the hospital and distributed hygiene packages provided by TIKA as gifts to the participants.

They also took part in cleaning activities with the children of the region on Cox's Bazar beach, the longest uninterrupted sea beach in the region.

Turkish volunteer students later visited the Turkish Embassy in Dhaka, the TIKA Dhaka Program Coordination Office, and the Turkish Airlines Dhaka Office as part of the program.

They also visited Lalbagh Fort, Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, Hazrat Hazi Khawja Shahbaz Khan Mosque, Gurudwara Nanak Shahi, Dhakeshwari Mandir, Curzon Hall in Dhaka province, and World Peace Pagoda and Shalban Bihar in Bangladesh's Comilla Province.

They also went to many historical and cultural sites in Chittagong province, including Bhatiary Lake, the Bayezid-i Bestami Shrine, and the Bangladesh Betar Museum.​​​​​​​