PLIGHT OF ROHINGYA REFUGEES Soldiers threw a bomb. My baby’s head caught fire. I don’t know if she’ll survive
dead by the army. They didn’t say anything, they just came in and shot him. They killed my children when they set fire to our home.
“I tried to save them. Any mother would. I didn’t know if I was going to die. Now I worry about feeding my remaining children.” The United Nations has described the “cruel operation” against the Rohingya as “textbook ethnic cleansing”.
Experts fear as many as one million – nearly the entire Rohingya population – could eventually reach Bangladesh. Most arrive at night to avoid being robbed by border bandits. On Thursday, 60 refugees, including dozens of children, died when a boat sank as they headed to Bangladesh.
Prime Minister Hasina has been hailed by her people as the “Mother of Humanity, champion of global peace and last hope for Rohingya refugees”.
RAPED
But with more than 50 million people in poverty in her own country, a huge injection of aid is needed.
The UN alone said it may need £150million over six months to deal with the crisis. There are 250,000 child refugees and malnutrition is rife. One Unicef clinician said an eight-monthold orphan was a pitiful 6lbs 8oz – half the weight it should be.
Slowly, aid agencies are setting up crude infrastructures to help support the influx of refugees.
At a Unicef children’s zone in the Balukhali makeshift settlement, dozens of youngsters laugh and play.
But awful memories are never far away. Ishmat, seven, made a chilling throat-slitting motion as she told how military stormed her village.
Meanwhile Abul, 14, has a scar under his eye. He tells how soldiers raped girls then attacked him with a stick.
Unicef ’s Jean-Jacques
girl clings to an open window, refusing to loosen her grip as the vehicle pulls away.
Aid teams work tirelessly. I saw one British Unicef worker save three babies by getting them to a clinic in a rickshaw. They need a miracle here. I pray they get one. Simon said: “Imagine half a million people coming over the border in a matter of days. It’s like an entire city being built from nothing in one of the poorest districts of Bangladesh.” Myanmar’s de facto leader, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has been criticised for not condeming the military – which she does not control. An independent tribunal in Kuala Lumpar last week ruled Myanmar was guilty of genocide, confirming rape, murder and brutal attacks. Myanmar denies ethnic cleansing, but has postponed a visit by UN officials and diplomats to Rakhine state. Leader Suu Kyi said the Rohingya could return. But many will be too afraid to go back. And that leaves them battling for survival at Cox’s Bazar. dan.warburton@ trinitymirror.com
WIDOW WHO TREKKED SIX DAYS TO SAFETY