UN News Centre
25 January 2018 – Improved security and unimpeded
humanitarian access in Myanmar are essential before Rohingya children can be
returned from Bangladesh, a senior official of the United Nations children's
agency has said.
“Some 58% of the refugees are children, many of whom are
still traumatized by their experiences of violence,” said UNICEF Deputy
Executive Director Justin Forsyth on Wednesday, speaking from the Kutapalong
refugee camp in southern Bangladesh.
“It is critical that their rights and needs in terms of
protection and aid are front and centre in any agreement to return families to
Myanmar. Return of refugees to Myanmar must be voluntary, safe and dignified,”
he added.
The vast Kutupalong camp shelters many of the 688,000
Rohingya refugees who have fled across the border from Myanmar's Rakhine State
following an outbreak of violence there in late August last year. More than
half of the refugees are children.
“In just the last few days we have heard reports of fires
and shooting in villages across the border. Until the safety and wellbeing of
any child returning to Myanmar can be guaranteed, talk of repatriation is
premature,” he stressed, while praising the leadership of Bangladesh for
supporting these desperate people and helping avoid “the worst potential
consequences of this human calamity.”
However, Mr. Forsyth pointed out that with the rainy
season approaching, there were still huge challenges ahead.
“Conditions in the camps here are undoubtedly harsh – the
overcrowding, the shortages of clean water, sanitation, health care and education
all carry a particular risk for children.”
Working with partners, UNICEF has dug hundreds of
water-bore wells, installed up to 16,000 toilets, helped immunize nearly a
million children and adults against cholera, screened 335,000 children for
malnutrition, and provided learning for nearly 80,000 children.
Even so, waterborne and other diseases are a constant
threat in the overcrowded camps, which need to be urgently decongested to
ensure basic facilities reach all inhabitants. Currently, up to 100 people must
use a single latrine and water supplies often run short.
More must also be done to protect vulnerable children
from traffickers and other dangers and to provide psychosocial care to those
who are still traumatized by the experiences that drove them from their homes.
Learning and recreational spaces for children have been
expanded rapidly, but still fall well short of the needs. Nearly 220,000
children are currently deprived of an education.
“The longer these children remain without the chance to
learn, the greater the risk that they will miss out on the chance to build a
future for themselves and their families,” Mr. Forsyth warned.