Dhaka, Oct 15 – The Inter-Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) led by the International Organisation on Migration (IOM) has estimated the number of forcibly displaced Rohingyas of Myanmar to stand at 536,000 saying their continued influx to Bangladesh spiked humanitarian needs.“Numbers spiked again this week when some 15,000 Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh in between October 9 to 11,” IOM said in a statement as it updated the number of Rohingyas who fled to Bangladesh in the past 47 days.
It said the speed and scale of the influx “triggered a humanitarian emergency” in Cox’s Bazar, where close to three-quarters of a million Rohingyas now depend on humanitarian assistance for shelter, food, water, sanitation and other life-saving needs.
Quoting one Rohingya man named Mohammad Yakub, 50, the IOM said eight to nine thousand people now waited on the beach on Myanmar side for an opportunity to cross. The aid agencies grouped in ISCG earlier this week appealed for US$ 434 million as part of a 6-month Humanitarian Response Plan targeting 1.2 million people, including the Rohingyas and 300,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis living in host communities in Cox’s Bazar.
“The seriousness of the situation cannot be over-emphasized. These people are malnourished and there is insufficient access to clean water and sanitation in many of the spontaneous sites. They are highly vulnerable. They have fled conflict, experienced severe trauma and are now living in extremely difficult conditions,” said IOM Bangladesh Chief of Mission Sarat Dash.
Many of the new arrivals require immediate health assistance and agencies have appealed for USD 48 million to scale up primary health care in all the new settlements over the next six months.
IOM’s Senior Regional Health Officer Patrick Duigan warned of a “very high risk” of an outbreak of communicable diseases given the crowded living conditions and the lack of adequate clean water and sanitation. “Maternal, newborn and child health care are also in desperately short supply given the very high numbers of pregnant or lactating women and children among the new arrivals,” he said.
The IOM statement said since 25 August, ISCG agencies provided over 210,000 people with healthcare assistance while their health partners were supporting the district health department with 12 medical teams in the new influx areas of Teknaf and Ukhia sub-districts.
Nine health centres have also been established in remote, hard-to-reach areas of the new settlements.
The government with aid agency supports so far vaccinated some 35,500 children between the age of 5-15 years against measles and rubella, and over 72,000 children between the age of 0 – 5 have been vaccinated against polio and received Vitamin A supplementation.
An oral cholera vaccination campaign targeting the entire population also began last week.
