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BANGLADESH: WHAT IS THE ANSWER AFTER THE INFLUX OF ROHINGYAS?

Published on Friday 14 April 2017

Between October and December 2016, 74,000 Rohingya fled violence in Burma. They arrived in Cox’s Bazar district of southern Bangladesh where our teams have set up an emergency response to help these newcomers who have lost everything, sometimes their entire families.

They needed everything, they had anything left. This was the observation that our teams in Bangladesh were able to make. Confronted with the disarray of exile, they took action to provide dignified and life-saving emergency aid to these thousands of destitute refugees.

Provide safe drinking water

Within a few weeks, our teams were able to put in place concrete solutions for both newcomers and host populations who had to share the few resources with refugees. They were able to supply thousands of people with drinking water. “To do this, we treated the water of the river, the only source of water in sufficient quantity during the dry season to provide drinking water for hundreds of families,” says Fanny Courric, head of the water, sanitation and hygiene programme, who has just returned after several months on the ground. We also distributed ceramic filters to filter water in a dozen villages where some wells are not dry yet and we built latrines.”

Building shelters

We also distributed shelter kits (tarpaulins) for newcomers who had nowhere to sleep. Sometimes we found that 15 people could sleep under the same roof piled up against each other. How could they have accommodated even one or two more,” Fanny continues, who remains concerned as the rainy season approaches. “We are at the end of the dry season. Within two months, the water will be plentiful and cause great damage. Despite the drainage and construction equipment provided by our crews, the strong winds and torrential rain will overwhelm these makeshift shelters.’’

Targeting the most vulnerable: children

Beyond water and shelter, refugees’ needs are huge. Having left with nothing, abandoning the little good they had in Burma, we had to provide them with a minimum of concrete help. ‘’We were able to buy emergency supplies for cooking equipment, basins, jerry cans to store water, soap and clothing… We also targeted schools, in which Rohingya children are allowed, in a dozen villages to help nearly 5,000 children, the first victims and undoubtedly the most vulnerable to disease and epidemics.’’

SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL’s emergency response of to the influx of Rohingya refugees in figures:

2369 “non-food item kits” were distributed to cover the needs of nearly 13,030 people in 21 villages.
800 shelter kits covering the needs of nearly 4,400 people in 5 villages.
314 latrine kits distributed, on the basis of one latrine for 10 people.
4347 ceramic filters in 10 villages and 2 informal camps covering the water needs of 4,347 families.
Water supply in 5 villages (12 distribution points) for 600 households
Distribution of 50 child kits in 12 villages covering the needs of 4,995 children.

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  • 165.65 million inhabitants
  • 129th out of 191 countries on the Human Development Index
  • 29.780 people helped