Rohingya refugees forced to scramble for aid in Bangladesh
KUTUPALONG, Sept 16 (AFP) - Every day Sunabhan joins thousands of other Rohingya refugees by the roadside near her settlement in southern Bangladesh waiting for aid trucks to arrive and readying herself for the desperate scramble for food.
Like most of the nearly 400,000 refugees who have flooded into Bangladesh in the past three weeks to escape violence in Myanmar, she relies on hand-outs from local volunteers operating with no official oversight and little coordination.
Today Sunabhan, a widowed mother of four, managed to fight her way through the scrum of hungry refugees near the camp in Kutupalong and grab a bag of rice flakes. But often the 44-year-old, who arrived in Bangladesh with her family 10 days ago after fleeing the violence that killed her husband, goes away empty hand- ed.
The UN said this week there was an urgent need for a coordinated response to the massive influx of desperate people, most of whom have still had no assistance from aid agencies or the state. Ordinary Bangladeshis have stepped into the breach, filling trucks and driving to the settlements that have sprung up. But their distribution methods make it impossible to ensure that aid reaches those who need it most. Each time a truck pulls up, the refugees scramble to grab the food parcels, water bottles and clothing the volunteers throw into the desperate crowd. At times fights break out; at others, children who have clambered up the sides of vehicles, hands outstretched, are swept onto the street when the trucks speed off. Food is the most prized catch, but even those giving out clothing attract a crowd. One Rohingya man wearing the traditional lungi tied
COX'S BAZAR, Sept 16 (AFP) - Two children and a woman were killed in a stampede for aid near a Bangladesh refugee camp, UN agencies said Saturday amid widespread fights among Rohingya for food and clothing thrown from relief trucks. “Despite local regulations and the control room established, private distri- around his waist picks up a pair of jeans embellished with sequins and places it on his head for protection against the sun.
Mohamad Anisul Islam, a 23-yearold Bangladeshi, is one of those standing atop the trucks throwing out aid. He insists his government is doing all it can for the refugees, but says he wants to help. “Their condition is miserable. They have no food, no home, none of their basic human rights are being met,” he said. “We already have a big population in Bangladesh and we want them to go butions of relief items continue,” it said, highlighting chaotic aid management that has drawn flak from rights workers.
AFP correspondents have witnessed violent scrambles for aid at camps around Cox's Bazar. Refugee witnesses have also told of stampedes. home, but while they are here we want to help.”
Vivian Tan, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency, said the government was now trying to set up dropoff points for aid distribution due to concerns over the current ad-hoc arrangements. “It reflects the generosity of the Bangladeshi public but did raise concerns about the safety of the refugees rushing for aid being tossed off trucks,” she told AFP. Bangladesh's PM Sheikh Hasina said the army would be deployed to distribute aid.
MANILA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - The Philippine capital's police chief ordered that the entire 1,200-member police force in one of Manila's biggest areas be relieved of duty and retrained on Friday in response to a series of controversies, including the killing of two teenagers.
Metro Manila's top officer Oscar Albayalde said all police personnel in the Caloocan area of the capital would undergo retraining and reorientation before being reassigned to other police units, not necessarily in Manila. All personnel in Caloocan's headquarters and seven precincts would be temporarily replaced by the regional public safety battalion, a combat-trained unit. It is the first time an entire city police unit has been relieved of its duties since President Rodrigo Duterte unleashed his bloody crackdown against illegal drugs 15 months ago, a campaign that has killed thousands of Filipinos.