Dhaka, Dec 4 – Only 34 percent of the $434 million needed to provide assistance to 1.2 million people, including host communities in Cox’s Bazar district, has been raised when Rohingyas are still suffering from various problems, says a new report on Monday. “Humanitarian partners are working round the clock to respond, but the reality remains that the needs are massive and urgent, and the gaps are wide. More funding is needed,” said Mia Seppo, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, but more land is needed to improve conditions in the congested camps, said the UN official.
One hundred days after the start of the most recent influx, the Inter-Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) released the report on the overall status of the humanitarian response to the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh.
There are more than 830,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar: 625,000 of them have poured over the border since August 25.
These Rohingyas are now living in ten different camps and among Bangladeshi host communities.
One of the camps has become the largest and fastest growing refugee camp in the world, where approximately half a million people are living extremely close to each other without access to basic services such as toilets or clinics.
The Monitoring Report, which covers the first two months of the response from August 25 to October 31, highlights the work of the government of Bangladesh, in cooperation with humanitarian partners who are working to provide relief services for the refugee population and Bangladeshi host communities.
Of the 1.2 million people in need, around half have been reached with assistance.
The report also explains the challenges and gaps that remain.
The risk of disease outbreak is high, and the impact of a cyclone or heavy rain would be massive.
There is not enough land to provide adequate living conditions for the more than 830,000 Rohingyas that now crowd Cox’s Bazar.
The report defines life-saving priorities for the coming months.
These include improving nutrition, preventing and managing disease outbreak, adequate planning for the new camps, and improving protection across all areas of the response.
Around 626,000 new arrivals since August 25 are reported as of December 2, according to IOM Needs and Population Monitoring.
Since the latest weekly situation report on November 26, there have been 1,622 new arrivals.
As of December 2, the Bangladeshi Immigration and Passports Department has registered 730,654 people through biometric registration.
The government of Bangladesh Social Services Division has identified 36,373 separated and unaccompanied minors.
Till December 2, the Armed Forces Division (AFD) has completed 7 kilometers of earthworks of the main road in the Kutupalong Balukhali extension.
The AFD has now completed 40% of the earthworks need for the road.
The total length of the road is 20 kilometers. – UNB
