A humanitarian crisis is unfolding.
An escalation of violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State triggered a mass exodus of more than 500,000 people to Bangladesh, in addition to creating large numbers of internally displaced persons within Myanmar itself. Myanmar’s Rohingya ethnic minority – mothers, fathers, children – have been forced to flee from ongoing attacks and have been arriving in Bangladesh destitute, traumatized and without access to medical care.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has had a long-term presence in Bangladesh. We are already on the ground responding to the most acute medical and humanitarian needs of the Rohingya in the Cox’s Bazaar district of Bangladesh. Our assessments have made clear, that an immediate increase in humanitarian assistance is needed to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity for hundreds of thousands.
Right now, there are serious concerns about the risk of potential outbreaks of cholera, measles and respiratory illnesses in the makeshift settlements where most refugees are taking shelter. Doctors Without Borders is scaling up our response to avoid a public health disaster.
Most of the newly arrived refugees have moved into makeshift settlements without adequate access to shelter, food, clean water or latrines. Two of the main pre-existing settlements in Kutupalong and Balukhali have merged into one densely populated mega settlement of nearly 500,000 people, making it one of the largest refugee concentrations in the world on a narrow 40 km strip of land.