THE future of Rohingya children is deeply uncertain. Though numerable foreign dignitaries, ministers, bureaucrats, Nobel laureates, the Pope and showbiz celebrities visited the refugee camps, nothing has changed. Truly, the future of Rohingya children is uncertain. They can have a chance in the future only with help from all quarters.
For countless Rohingya children, the traumatised psyche has left them scarred and speechless, and unquestionably the memories full of horror would remain for the rest of their lives. That means – words of sympathy, deeper inner feelings and emotional outbursts are all there – reality speaks a different story. Little is being done for ensuring education and the wellbeing of these children. Around 350,000 displaced children have been living in cramped conditions. Many have become prone to child-trafficking and even more are suffering from malnutrition.
These children are at the forefront of the ongoing humanitarian crisis, and they desperately need assistance. In fact, the entire world needs to shoulder responsibility. They are the world’s future. It may sound utterly depressing – this is an entire generation of children that have no future in sight. We want more and more dignitaries to come and experience what has been deliberately done to a minority helpless Muslim community in Myanmar.
UNICEF said more than 145,000 Rohingya refugee children living in camps in Cox’s Bazar are attending 1,600 learning centres. Presently, the majority of adolescents aged 15 to 18 do not receive any kind of education in the refugee camps. For that reason, this group is extremely vulnerable to child marriage, child labour, human trafficking, abuse and exploitation.
We do urge the world community to do something for the rootless Rohingya children before it is too late. Otherwise, the entire south and south-east Asia region will have to bear the brunt of the crisis.
