Unicef Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra has called for more global action and support for vulnerable Rohingya children and women urging all to open their hearts with compassion. “Every child deserves a future. Every child deserves an opportunity to contribute to humanity. Please be sympathetic and treat these children as your own,” said the Bollywood actress in a crowded pre-departure press conference at a city hotel on Thursday evening. Terming her Cox’s Bazar visit as one of her most life-changing trips that she has made along with Unicef, Priyanka said it is heartening to see the immense support that has been provided by the government of Bangladesh. “They have not just opened their hearts but also have made every effort to accommodate as many refugees as they can. We have to care. The whole world has to care and take action,” Priyanka said while briefing media following a four-day visit to Cox’s Bazar when she met Rohingya children and families living in refugee camps and informal settlements. Responding to a UNB question on her message to Myanmar, she said, “I’m here on behalf of children. I’m too small, I feel, to speak about political situation like this. I’m not someone who believes in a blame game. I think that creates more hatreds and animosities.” Priyanka said she would rather look at the future and see, instead of focusing on the violence of the past and responding with anger to hatreds. “I think it’s important to focus on the future of these kids. And put our positivity on that direction.” Asked whether she will convince Indian government to help Bangladesh more instead of Myanmar, she said the day she will become a politician, she will do all that. “But right now I’m the Goodwill Ambassador of Unicef…when I’ll become a prime minister, you watch…” Responding to another question, she said, this is a political problem and they do not have the answer to political problems because they do not have those powers.
Nearly 60 per cent of the more than 700,000 refugees are children, living in desperately difficult conditions – with limited access to permanent shelter, clean and safe water, food and education, she said. Priyanka also journeyed to the border area near Myanmar where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya women, children and men crossed following the escalation of violence in August 2017. In a nutrition centre in Jamtoli makeshift settlement, Chopra saw children being screened for malnutrition.
Unicef Representative in Bangladesh Edouard Beigbeder, in a statement said, said that as the crisis continues to unfold, the international community must not ignore the huge needs of Rohingya children and the new risks they face. “The international community must redouble its efforts to support the Government of Bangladesh to protect and invest in the future of Rohingya children, particularly in their education,” Beigbeder said. The government of Bangladesh has generously taken in more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees since August 25th already and has been working with Unicef to deliver life-saving support to the most recent and previous influxes of Rohingya refugees.
