Dealing with the Rohingya cRisis

Besides helping patients in the Middle East, the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has had a strong presence in Bangladesh long before the Rohingya crisis grew exponentially in 2017.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas fled persecution in Myanmar and crossed the border into Bangladesh.

“Rohingya communities had sought refuge a long time ago. What we saw starting in August 2017 was that numbers between 500,000 and 700,000 people are pouring through the border in a state of high vulnerability and the camps are becoming something completely different. Our first concerns in Bangladesh were the monsoon season. With heavy rainfall and stagnant water in a precarious setting, such as a camp, disease can spread quite easily — water-borne diseases and mosquitoes,” said Mario Stephan, executive director of MSF, said.

“Secondly, it’s important to keep in mind that people might come seeking care resulting from injuries they have sustained while fleeing the country or as they were crossing, but people also get cut from healthcare. They could have conditions such as diabetes, hypertension. These diseases, for people like you and me, are treatable. But if left untreated, these can develop into serious complications and can sometimes lead to death.”

The MSF has built a hospital on the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh’s Cox Bazaar. “We also have health surveillance activities. We have mobile clinics to be able to let the communities know we are there to help and to also identify cases that won’t necessarily make it to the points of care,” Stephan added.