The United Nations and its partners in Bangladesh appealed for USD 42.1 million today for the Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi communities in Cox’s Bazar who are facing the devastating impact of Cyclone Mocha. The cyclone severely affected all 33 refugee camps and surrounding Bangladeshi villages, leaving thousands desperately in need.
The urgent appeal includes USD 36.5 million under the Rohingya Refugee Response to benefit refugees and Bangladeshi communities. Additionally, the UN and its partners seek USD 5.6 million exclusively for Bangladeshi families in Teknaf. The appeal focuses on the urgent needs to replenish contingency stocks, prepare ahead of the monsoon season, and use weather and fire-resistant materials for shelters and facilities that are critical in saving lives.
Cyclone Mocha struck the Bangladesh-Myanmar border on 14 May, bringing heavy rains and strong winds. Hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshis and Rohingya were impacted by the cyclone. Shelters built of bamboo and tarpaulin were damaged and destroyed. Many more lost access to clean drinking water and other water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities. Key facilities for education, nutrition, protection, and more were damaged or destroyed.
“The cyclone has taken a huge toll on Bangladeshi and refugee communities, even if we missed the eye of the storm,” said Gwyn Lewis, the UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh. “What we need to do is to build back better with weather and fire-resistant materials. Many refugees lost their homes in March due to devastating fires and had just begun rebuilding their lives. They are now rebuilding their shelters once again following the cyclone and are bracing for the monsoons that are around the corner.”
Rohingya refugees are particularly vulnerable this year because the 2023 Appeal seeking USD 876 million dollars is only 17% funded as of mid-May. Funding shortfalls, resulting in two ration cuts in March and imminently in June 2023, will decrease food assistance by 33.3%. Other critical programmes and activities are also being cut.
“Refugees are not allowed to work and are completely reliant on the international community.” said Lewis, “We desperately need USD 56 million to restore the full food rations of refugees. Now we also need additional support to rebuild the camps after the cyclone and prepare for the monsoons.”
The Resident Coordinator acknowledged the Government’s leadership in implementing its sophisticated disaster preparedness and response systems that has saved countless lives in the past years and during Cyclone Mocha.
In Myanmar, the humanitarian community also launched today a USD 333 million Flash Appeal to assist 1.6 million people affected by Cyclone Mocha.
Media Contacts:
In Dhaka: Igor Sazonov, UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, [email protected], +8801321169633
In Cox’s Bazar: Syed Md Tafhim, Inter Sector Coordination Group, [email protected], +8801850018235 and Faik Uyanık, Inter Sector Coordination Group, [email protected], +8801847421667
On a remote island in Bhasan Char, UNFPA is meeting the critical Sexual and Reproductive Health and Protection needs of refugees
Halima*, a pregnant refugee, arrived at the health post five months pregnant and feeling unwell. The midwives at the facility provided her with antenatal care, conducted regular health checkups, to ensure the well-being of her newborn. Life on the island, Bhasan Char was tough, but Halima knew she and her baby were in good hands. She was grateful for the health post, established by UNFPA – one of the few organizations that had responded quickly to the crisis and provided essential sexual and reproductive health services to women and girls living here. She was one of the many women who are receiving essential antenatal care, regular health checkups, and guidance on recommended actions from the midwives present in the health facilities.
“I learnt about the do’s and don’ts during my pregnancy from apa (the midwife), and now I am feeling much better.” – says Halima
With UNFPA’s support, the island saw 2,850 antenatal care visits, 99 facility-based deliveries, 348 postnatal care visits, 4,440 family planning consultations, and 2,960 counseling on family planning and discussion sessions. UNFPA’s efforts have played a crucial role in making Sexual and Reproductive health services available to women and girls, while providing a sense of safety and protection for women and adolescents on the island. Consequently, UNFPA is also providing support in line with the local health system by training midwives, making the essential commodities available and thus strengthening the capacity of health facilities. Moreover, UNFPA established a women-friendly space that provides a secure environment for women to gather, connect, share experiences, and learn new skills. The space offers GBV, SRH, PSEA awareness and information sharing sessions, and skill development on stitching, embroidery, and weaving mats and handicraft items, enabling women and adolescent girls to learn different life skills. Alongside, through the GBV prevention activities women, men, girls and boys are engaged in GBV awareness, PSEA, and referral pathway sessions. Additionally, UNFPA is rolling out the SASA! Together- a structured community mobilisation approach that supports communities to create positive and sustainable changes around norms that perpetuate violence against women. Through the integration of Sexual and Reproductive health and Gender Based Violence, women can access services both in the health post and the WFS where pregnant mothers are provided with essential services to fulfill their reproductive health care needs. The women are also taught about modern methods of contraception so that they can make informed decisions based on their individual needs.
“One of the women who regularly visit the women-friendly space stated – Being in this place gives me a sense of comfort and protection.
Living on an island, with limited options, many adolescent boys and girls struggle to pursue their dreams and lack access to information that could help them make informed decisions. UNFPA also recognizes the importance of giving adolescent boys and girls chances to reach their goals and dreams, especially in the face of limited learning resources. Therefore, the established Adolescent and Youth Centre, offering MHPSS and essential information about gender-based violence and reproductive health issues. Through structured sessions tailored for boys and girls, the adolescents can make informed decisions about their reproductive needs and learn to identify potential risks associated with gender-based violence and at the same time develop some self-reliance skills.
One of the adolescent boys who frequents the A&Y centre was delighted to contribute to the space’s decoration with his drawings and art. He expressed his joy about having a dedicated centre for him and his friends from the community. Such centres provide them with the hope for a better future despite the challenges they face.
“He shared, I drew many things to decorate our rooms, and I loved the opportunity to have a space where I can learn new things, share with others my age, and come with my friends.”
However, to continue providing life-saving integrated Sexual and Reproductive health and Gender Based Violence services to women, men and adolescents and youth (both girls and boys), securing additional funding is critical. UNFPA is grateful to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the Government of Japan, and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) for supporting the response in Bhasan Char, and together, we are ensuring that no one is left behind. UNFPA’s efforts have made a significant impact in meeting the urgent needs of Rohingya refugees on the island, providing them with the necessary life-saving services to have a better future.
Eight-year-old Sohida was in a playground when fire raged through her home in a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. She was in danger when she saw the fire and people running and shouting all around her. With her heart racing from fear, Sohida joined the fleeing crowd and ended up on the roadside as the night set in. A stranger gave her some food and she spent the night out in the open. For one so young, Sohida has already seen too much tragedy. Her parents were killed during a wave of unspeakable violence and brutality that forced over 700,000 Rohingyas to flee from their homes in Myanmar in 2017. Under the care of a religious leader from her community, Sohida is among the almost one million Rohingya refugees who now live in refugee camps across the border in the Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.UNICEF Bangladesh/2023/Sujan
The morning after the fire, Sohida has made it to a temporary UNICEF shelter. “I was afraid of getting burnt and dying in the fire,” says a shaken Sohida. A social worker at the UNICEF shelter counsels Sohida and other children traumatized by the fire. They pay special attention to children separated from their families in the chaos. Sohida is now reunited with her foster father but challenging days are still ahead as they don’t have a place to live.
Homeless once more Sohida is one of 12,000 Rohingya refugees – half of them children – who lost their shelter homes in the fire. Several facilities that provide critical services to refugee children and their families have also been destroyed. Among these are over 20 learning centres, at least one nutrition centre, and several sanitation facilities. UNICEF dispatched two mobile medical teams to provide emergency medical aid to injured refugees. UNICEF has also provided dignity kits to help families maintain their hygiene and sense of dignity in a desperate situation where they have lost everything of what little they owned. The dignity kits contain soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, and other critical hygiene items such as sanitary pads.UNICEF Bangladesh/2023/Spiridonova
As the long road to recovery and rebuilding now begins, the Rohingya refugees continue to rely entirely on humanitarian assistance for protection, food, water, shelter and health. For UNICEF, the priority is to repair and rebuild damaged facilities so that children like Sohida can go back to school and can be given essential healthcare, nutrition and sanitation services.UNICEF/UN0796337/Miraz/AFP
This is a summary of what was said by Johannes van der Klaauw, UNHCR Representative in Dhaka, Bangladesh – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
GENEVA, 7 March 2023 – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners are calling on the international community to redouble efforts for sustained financial support and solutions for Rohingya refugees and the Bangladeshi communities that are hosting them as the dire situation enters its sixth year.
Under the leadership of the Bangladeshi authorities, the 2023 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis calls for $876 million to reach 1.47 million people. The Joint Response Plan brings together 116 partners, nearly half of them national organizations from Bangladesh.
The Plan, which was launched today, aims to help some 978,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar and on the island of Bhasan Char, and 495,000 Bangladeshis in neighbouring communities, with food, shelter, health care, access to drinkable water, protection services, education, as well as livelihood opportunities and skills development.
Every day, the nearly one million Rohingya women, children and men that fled from violence and persecution in Myanmar for Bangladesh wake up in a chilling fog of uncertainty about their futures. They are desperate to return to their homes in Myanmar, which are currently out of reach, and instead live in extremely overcrowded, and sometimes dangerous conditions in refugee camps, relying almost entirely on humanitarian assistance for their survival.
While the situation has become protracted, the needs of refugees remain urgent. Women and children, who make up more than 75 per cent of the targeted refugee population, face higher risks of abuse, exploitation, and gender-based violence. More than half of the refugees in the camps are under 18, their futures on hold.
Since the onset of this humanitarian crisis in 2017, the Government of Bangladesh and local communities, with aid agencies, have been quick to respond to arriving refugees in what remains the world’s largest refugee camp. However, as global displacement continues to rise, so does the risk that the needs of Rohingya refugees and surrounding host communities will be forgotten.
With decreased funding, refugees stand to face even more challenges in their daily lives in terms of proper nutrition, shelter materials, sanitation facilities and livelihood opportunities.
The lack of funds has already forced the World Food Programme to cut its lifesaving food assistance to all Rohingya living in the camps; despite concerted humanitarian efforts, 45 per cent of Rohingya families are not eating a sufficiently healthy diet and malnutrition is widespread. These ration cuts are likely to result in higher malnutrition rates, deteriorating health, school dropouts, increased incidents of child marriage, child labour and gender-based violence.
It is therefore vital to ensure continued funding and support to be able to deliver life-saving and life-sustaining assistance to the camp population while also investing in education, skills training and livelihood opportunities, allowing refugees to partially fulfil their basic needs with their own means. The relocation of some 30,000 Rohingya to the island of Bhasan Char needs to be complemented by significant investment in communal livelihood initiatives as a prerequisite for the viability and sustainability of the project.
The combination of prolonged displacement and deteriorating camp conditions has prompted an increasing number of refugees to resort to dangerous boat journeys to seek a better future. Last year alone, more than 3,500 Rohingya attempted high-risk boat journeys across the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal. Sadly, 10 per cent lost their lives or went missing.
The solutions to the Rohingya crisis ultimately lie within Myanmar. Many Rohingya refugees continue to express their desire to return home when conditions allow, yet currently there is no prospect for a safe, dignified and sustainable return in the immediate future. Hence, steadfast support from the international community remains crucial to support efforts by Myanmar to develop conditions conducive for return and to uphold the Rohingya right to return, while also supporting delivery of life-saving assistance and effective protection to refugees in the camps until they can return, with their rights ensured.
Given its geography, annual cycles of heavy monsoon rains and cyclones pose substantial risks to refugees in camps and host communities. Among the objectives of the Joint Response Plan, in coordination with the Government of Bangladesh, will be to strengthen disaster risk management and combat the effects of climate change through reforestation and promoting the use of renewable and cleaner energy sources. The provision of cooking gas, which has significantly eased pressure on the environment, requires significant funding. B-ROLL: https://media.unhcr.org/Share/372v31o3e0y4nb04x2216gsjy86x2y3d Link to photos: https://media.unhcr.org/Share/q5xv8lsd31c2u7f08pwifguln084lk43
For more information on this topic, please contact:
> In Bangladesh, Regina de la Portilla, [email protected], +88 01847 327 279 > In Bangkok, Babar Baloch, [email protected], +66 80 086 5611 > In Geneva, Matthew Saltmarsh, [email protected] +41 79 967 99 36
Author: UNHCR By Kristy Siegfried in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
Samia has spent five of her 14 years living in Kutupalong – the largest and most densely populated refugee settlement in the world.
The series of camps that make up the settlement were carved out of the forest in southern Bangladesh in 2017 to shelter hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Nearly one million people are now crammed into an area of just 17 square kilometres. Bamboo shelters throng the hillsides and narrow roads teem with pedestrians, rickshaws, humanitarian vehicles and traders. It is no wonder that Samia looks skyward for a sense of peace.
“When I see a flock of birds flying nearby, I feel good,” she says. “I like the sound of the birds.”
After arriving in Bangladesh, following a traumatic journey from Myanmar, Samia was dismayed to see the forest being destroyed as trees were cleared to make way for shelters.
“When I first came here, I saw people kill wild animals when they entered the camps. They cut the trees and threw them away to cultivate the land. And people used to litter everywhere.”
“Climate change means it’s too hot during the summer and too rainy during the monsoon.”
Thanks, in part, to her efforts and those of other young Rohingya refugees in Kutupalong, attitudes towards wildlife and the surrounding forest are starting to change.
Samia belongs to one of five youth groups in the camps that, along with five similar groups in the surrounding host community, have received training on environmental issues from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its partner organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They have learned about the links between destroying trees and vegetation and the climate crisis that increasingly impacts their daily lives.
“Climate change means it’s too hot during the summer and too rainy during the monsoon,” says Samia. “I’ve seen with my own eyes shelters being broken by landslides and people being injured.”
Last year, the youth groups were asked to identify environmental issues affecting their section of the camp and to come up with their own solutions to them. Samia jumped on the opportunity to educate her family, friends and neighbours about the importance of protecting trees and local wildlife that wanders into the camp. She and the rest of her group run awareness-raising sessions with children, adults and local leaders like imams.
“I tell them, ‘If you let the trees grow, you will get shade and sit peacefully under them.’ I tell them not to kill the animals because they benefit us.”
Southern Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The refugees’ makeshift shelters, many of them built on deforested, unstable hillsides, provide little defense against tropical storms of increasing intensity. Last year alone, flooding and landslides forced some 24,000 refugees to abandon their homes and belongings and 10 refugees died during heavy monsoon rains.
“We are witnessing climate change every day,” says Mohammed Rofique, 18, who belongs to another youth group. “But the big countries are not seeing it; they are the ones who need to be aware. They need to stop cutting trees. Here, we’re trying to save our trees and save nature.”
Rofique’s group is trying to improve waste management and the shortage of bins in their part of the camp, to reduce pollution and the clogging of drains and canals.
“People used to throw their rubbish everywhere. It smelt really bad, and it was unsafe for the children,” he says. “Rubbish used to block waterways so when it rained, it flooded and spread waste around the camp.”
As well as making and distributing bins made from bamboo, the group has planted gardens in open areas where people used to throw their rubbish.
Besides the obvious environmental benefits, Ehsanul Hoque, who works with UNHCR’s environment unit, points out that the youth groups are equipping young people in the camps with problem-solving and leadership skills, and giving them a sense of purpose in a place where there are very few opportunities to access higher education or livelihoods. “We’re letting them know that they can [make a difference]. You can talk to your family, your neighbour, you can start with yourself.”
UNHCR works with partners and refugee volunteers to regreen the camps and restore the ecosystem by planting thousands of trees, shrubs and grasses, restoring waterways, and distributing Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to all households as an alternative to firewood.
Samia says she has persuaded her younger brothers to stop throwing stones at birds and that other refugees are receptive to the group’s messages about protecting the environment.
“Some people don’t want to listen to us, but I truly believe that, gradually, their viewpoint will change,” she says. “At the end of the day, I feel good thinking that I raised awareness in my community.”
Recently, when a large snake was found in her block of the camp, some of her neighbours wanted to kill it, she says. “But others said, ‘We don’t need to, we can take it to the forest and release it’. So they put it in a big jute bag and carried it there.”
Caption: More funding is needed for skills training and livelihood projects like one that is supporting refugees and host communities to grow bamboo for building and stabilizing hillsides. © UNHCR/Kamrul Hasan
