More than half of all child refugees – at least 170,000 – in Bangladesh’s camps are at risk of psychological and social distress.
For at least 50,000 of them, the stress can be toxic and can result in life-long damage, says international charity World Vision.
Fighting has driven out more than 655,000 people from Myanmar’s Rakhine State into Bangladesh since August 2017, notes the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG), in collaboration with humanitarian partners.
Aid groups, including World Vision, have reached 120,839 boys and girls with psychosocial support to help address the psychological and social effects of the emergency through child-friendly spaces.
Some 28,000 young boys and girls have attended adolescent clubs to learn life skills.
“These numbers are only the tip of a mental health iceberg,” said Fred Witteveen, World Vision’s National Director in Bangladesh.
“There are still thousands of children who need urgent psychosocial care”, added Fred Witteveen.
“What is frightening is that of some 194,000 households surveyed in the camps, about 7,200 are now headed by children,” noted Witteveen.
“As if these children weren’t under enough stress, now they are forced to fend for their family; all while their emotional, social, and development problems may be deepening. This all within a pressure-cooker camp setting”, pointed Witteveen.
The growing camp population, which has multiplied four times in four months, has stretched protective communal structures, including gender-sensitive latrines and bathing spaces.
This scarcity has fueled fears among girls and boys, including adolescents and women, of gender-based violence, specifically sexual assault.
“Psychosocial intervention is as important as food, water and other basic services,” reiterates Witteveen.
To date, only 25.6 per cent of the USD 30.7 million needed to fund child protection initiatives, including psychosocial care, has been raised, reports Relief Web.