ROHINGYAS are a Muslim minority in Myanmar who had been rendered stateless and about 500,000 of them had fled to Bangladesh. We really had no other choice but to help them at least on humanitarian ground. We have done so and extended our helping hand to provide food and shelter for them. But children being more vulnerable to disease and malnutrition, are in need of further help. A large number of children have taken shelter in camps at Cox's Bazar and many of them have fallen sick without proper food and sleep on their way to the refugee camps.
Many of them have been suffering from fever as they were drenched by rain on the way. At the same time, special care should be taken so that the girl children do not fall into traps set by child traffickers as child trafficking had been quite rampant lately. So there are incredible risks involved apart from shelter, food and medicine and nutrition supplies to treat the malnourished children. Protection and physical support are also a critical requirement for children who are clearly traumatized by the situation. This is particularly true for the children who arrived without their parents or a near and dear one.
In Bangladesh, UN agencies are scaling up their response to provide relief for the displaced Rohingyas. But more support is required as help needed is in excess of the help received. We all should do whatever is possible for us to minimize the sufferings of the Rohingya refugees.
Shahedul Islam Sahed
East West University
sahedewu@gmail.com