MOAS launches Rohingya refugee Christmas appeal

As Christmas approaches, the Maltabased Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) has renewed its commitment to assisting Rohingya refugees and the Bengali communities hosting them.

MOAS is asking for help to continue carrying out its mission in Bangladesh and to provide crucial assistance to patients who would otherwise have no access to medication or emergency care. Donate to MOAS on behalf of a loved one and the organisation will send you a certificate detailing the impact of your gift.

Throughout December, donors who give over €150 will also be entitled to a small token of appreciation.

Since 25 August, over half a million Rohingya refugees have fled their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine state for neighbouring Bangladesh. Those arriving in Bangladesh have described horrific crimes committed against them and their families — from the burning down of entire villages and rape of women and girls, to the murder of infants and mass shooting of civilians.

The Xchange Rohingya Survey 2017 — Xchange being MOAS’ sister organisation — brings together a dedicated field team to collect data from new Rohingya settlements in Bangladesh, with the aim of documenting incidents and abuses against the Muslim minority group to better understand the dynamics of their exodus.

Their findings reveal the scope and de- tail of the events that have unfolded since late August. Through interviews with survivors, they have been able to shed light on the perpetrators and victims, the journeys taken, and the locations where incidents have occurred across Rakhine State.

Their aim is to document this crisis in order to help others understand it and to ensure that such incidents are not forgotten.

One Rohingya refugee recalls the night when the military raided her village in Myanmar. Her story is one of over a thousand recently recorded by the migration research and data analysis portal Xchange.org in its Rohingya Survey 2017:

“It was night when the military entered my village. I was at home when they started searching for people, particularly young girls. When they found them, they raped them. They also kidnapped people, some were beaten up badly and others were shot and killed. It was indiscriminate. I fled from my home without my child or my husband. Many people died in that raid and more were lost. We know nothing of what happened to them.”

The Rohingya survey can be found at: http://xchange.org/reports/TheRohingyaSurvey2017.html?mc_cid=c29c4aae09&mc_eid= b5ec223230

To make a donation toward the cause, visit www.moas.eu/donate