Staff Reporter :
The UNICEF on Wednesday said that there are many more steps that needed to be taken for safe repatriations of Rohingya children to Myanmar along with grown up people.
“It is very important to improve security situation and humanitarian aid access to poor malnourished children in Rakhine state before sending back to Myanmar” UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth said to the journalists at the Kutapalong Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar.
He said, around 58 percent of the Rohingya refugees are children.
“Many children are still traumatized as they experienced horrific violence committed by the Myanmar Army,” he said.
The UNICEF envoy said that the situation is critical as their rights and needs in terms of protection and aid access are most important in any agreement to return families to Myanmar. “The return of refugees must be voluntary, safe and dignified,” he said.
The vast Kutupalong camp sheltered many of the 6,88,000 Rohingyas who have fled across the border from Myanmar’s Rakhine State after Army crackdown since August 25 last year.
He said the international community heard reports in last few days that fires and shooting in Rohingya villages across the border are still taking place unabated.
“The talks of repatriation might be considered premature until the safety and wellbeing of children returning to Myanmar can be guaranteed,” Justin said.
“The Bangladesh government deserves enormous credit for all that it has done to help these helpless people. Bangladesh government allowed to avoid the worst consequences of this potential human crisis in an incredibly difficult situation,” the UNICEF Deputy Chief said.
He also warned of more challenges ahead in the next rainy season.
He described the conditions in the camps as ‘undoubtedly’ harsh. “It is overcrowding, shortages of clean water, sanitation, health care and education. All carry a particular risk for the children,” he said.
UNICEF is working with a number of international and national agencies alongside the Bangladesh government to assist and support the Rohingyas taken shelter in Bangladesh.
UNICEF with its working partners has installed hundreds of tube wells, more than 16,000 toilets, helped immunise risk for nearly a million children and adults against cholera, screened 3,35,000 children for malnutrition, and provided learning for nearly 80,000 children.
Sources said that up to 100 people are now using a single latrine. Water supplies often run short.
According to UNICEF, more steps must be taken to protect vulnerable children from traffickers and other dangers and to provide psycho-social care to those who are still traumatized from bitter experiences.
It also said that nearly 2,20,000 children are currently deprived of access to education.
Justin said, “If these children remain without education for long, the greater risk is that they will miss the opportunity to build a future for themselves and their families.”
He stressed the need that every quarter must join hands to provide them learning spaces so that they are not left out in the dark.
