LONE CHILD REFUGEES

Aid groups call for swift action to prevent them from being exploited

UKHIA (Bangladesh)

THE lost Rohingya boy made the journey from Myanmar alone, following strangers from other villages across rivers and jungle until they reached Bangladesh, where he had no family and no idea where to go.

“Some women in the group asked, ‘Where are your parents?’ I said I didn’t know where they were,” said Abdul Aziz, 10, whose name has been changed to protect his identity.

“A woman said: ‘We’ll look after you like our child, come along’. After that, I went with them.”

More than 1,100 Rohingya children fleeing violence in western Myanmar have arrived alone in Bangladesh since Aug 25, according to the latest United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) figures.

These solo children are at risk of sexual abuse, human trafficking and psychological trauma.

Many have seen family members brutally killed in village massacres in Rakhine State.

Others narrowly escaped with their lives, some children arriving with shrapnel and bullet wounds.