Aid workers fear women raped by Myanmar troops 9 months
ago will abandon newborns
COX'S BAZAR (Bangladesh) • Aid workers are scouring the
world's largest refugee camp for pregnant Rohingya rape victims, with a rush of
births anticipated nine months after Myanmar forces unleashed "a frenzy of
sexual violence" against women and girls from the Muslim minority.
Specialists and Rohingya volunteers are racing against
time to find women in the giant camp who are thought to be hiding their
pregnancies out of shame, as fears grow that newborns could be abandoned and
new mothers may die without care in coming weeks.
Ms Tosminara, herself a Rohingya refugee, has spent
months coaxing these women out of the shadows, promising discretion.
"We tell them a password they can use when they
arrive at the hospital or health post. The guard then sends the women directly
to the right spot," said Ms Tosminara, who goes by one name.
The Myanmar army crackdown last August drove roughly
700,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh.
The number of pregnancies resulting from rape is not
known. But United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew
Gilmour said there would inevitably be a spike in births soon given the
"frenzy of sexual violence in August and September last year".
Ms Marcella Kraay of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) also
said "a fair number of pregnancies" were expected. An estimated
48,000 women will give birth in the camp this year. Those who were raped will
be delivering soon, mostly in secret and without medical care on the floors of
bamboo shacks near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
An estimated 48,000 women will give birth in
the camp this year. Those who were raped will be delivering soon, mostly in
secret and without medical care on the floors of bamboo shacks near the
Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
Rohingya community leader Abdur Rahim said he knew two
women who were raped by soldiers and due within the month. "The Myanmar
military raped them. These babies are... evidence of their crimes."
Ms Tosminara said she is trying her best to find these
women. But volunteers must contend with a deep-rooted stigma that keeps many
from revealing their ordeal.
Many have sought clinical help to terminate pregnancies.
Others have resorted to underground options resulting in "complicated,
incomplete abortions", said MSF midwife Daniela Sofia. Ms Sofia assisted a
16-year-old with an abortion after she arrived at her clinic in secret,
terrified her family would find out. She said the girl had been gang-raped by
Myanmar soldiers.
More than half of the Rohingya people who have fled into
Bangladesh are women and girls.
Ms Emu Roy, a Bangladeshi midwife, said a paucity of
maternity professionals made it difficult to know how many women were suffering
in silence in the camp. "It's not possible for us to go door to
door."
Experts are concerned that families could forcibly marry
off teenage girls to cover up pregnancies. Others fear that newborns could be
abandoned. MSF alone treated 311 rape victims between last August and March but
Ms Kraay said this was "the tip of the iceberg".
The Myanmar army chief has denied allegations his forces
used rape to terrorise the Muslim minority. But the military last month was
placed on a UN blacklist for armies and rebels known to use rape in war.
Sources: AFP