Category: Burma/Myanmar

Displaced Kachin communities still fighting to give their children the best possible start

18/2/2019

Around a year ago, we reported how the Kachin communities we work with in the remote displacement camps of Kachin State Myanmar, were beginning to lose hope. Having faced over seven years of being trapped in high altitude camps, cut off from basic services and humanitarian aid, the motivation that carried them through the first season was waning.

Living through what they describe as a ‘slow genocide’, while international attention remains on other crises around the world, 100,000 Kachin civilians endure terrible conditions, and remain ignored. Throughout 2018 these people have faced the threat of continued forced displacement, spontaneous return, land grabbing, and a continuing decrease of humanitarian aid. This has all increased the difficulty of providing for their families, facilitating transportation and facing weather conditions of less than minus ten degrees during winter.

Not only are children aged 3-6 cut off from early learning facilities, but our local partners (KDG) report that most camps have limited opportunities for playing, with terrain being unsuitable to build playgrounds, and little access to play materials. Consequently many older children disappear to the forests and find dangerous places to play.

Warm clothes distribution at Munglai Hkyet ECD Centre

In the past year, the 13 Early Childhood Development Centres we support in the most remote camps on the China border have been supplied with new art materials, musical toys, building blocks, sand pits, tyre swings, story books, and table tennis sets. 431 children received warm clothes and 18 new teachers were recruited, receiving intensive, high-quality training in Laiza. This brings the total number of teachers on the programme to 49.

The stand out feature of this programme however, is the contribution of the community. This ownership, despite the fact their situation has not abated, has continued to increase through 2018. In addition to providing ongoing nutritional support, 258 parents and committee members have attended workshops at each Centre, learning how to make play materials for the inside and outside nursery spaces. This included making ladders, bridges, swings and sand pits of bamboo and wood for the playgrounds. All of this has created 13 colourful, fun environments for the children to have fun and forget about the conflict situation they live in.

Maga Yang parents attend a workshop learning to make outdoor play materials.

All the teachers are trained from within the Kachin community, learning about child psychology, dealing with behaviour, building a child-friendly environment, teaching techniques, child protection and managing logistics. 10 of the more experienced teachers have received further ongoing training on creating safe spaces where children can be free and secure enough to express themselves. They support children to regain a sense of security and self-worth while facilitating their long term recovery and well-being.

Nang Pu Lum has become an active and engaged child through his experience at the Maga Yang ECD Centre.

Nang Pu Lum is just over three years old and attends one of the Centres. Despite being so young, he is the middle child of a family of five, who all live in the Maga Yang Internally Displaced Person’s camp. His family fled their village back in 2011 when the ceasefire between the central government and ethnic Kachin rebels broke down. Maga Yang camp has endured further armed conflict over the last few years, with residents being re-displaced and cut off from humanitarian aid.

Nang Pu Lum’s family has struggled a lot over this time supporting such a large family and having no real means of income in the camps. Teachers described how “He just stayed alone, wasn’t talking much and wasn’t playing much with friends. Sometimes he shouted without realising it and would often just sing alone. He was always separated from others”

The teachers in Maga Yang talked with Nang Pu Lum’s family about how to give him the attention he needs, despite having lots of brother and sisters. With more support at home and extra attention at the Centres, Nang Pul Lum became an active and engaged child by the middle of the school term.

Our partners have reported that there has been a noted increase this year in parents interest in their children’s education and development, and that they listen more to their children’s opinions, leading to improvements in the children’s behaviour, self-esteem and happiness. Marip Ngwa Mi is the mother of one of the children at the Centres and says ““I am so grateful to this ECD Centre because I believe that even though I am not well educated, my child will be educated by attending this Centre. I am also so happy when my child is singing a song and dancing, which she has learned at the Centre. My child always tells me everything she has learned, such as how to wash hands before eating. I am so happy with my child’s development.”

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“I have left everything behind, we all have.” - One year after the Rohingya crisis

20/8/2018

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The 25th August 2018 marks one year since the start of the fastest growing refugee crisis in modern history. Causing suffering on a catastrophic scale, escalating violence from the Myanmar military forced over 700,000 Rohingya people over the border to Bangladesh.

From this time, traumatised refugees arrived into the Kutupalong camp where we had been working for seven years. Many of these people had lost family members in horrific violence, been subject to rape and torture or sustained injuries from gunshots, shrapnel, landmines or fire as their villages were burnt down.

12 year old Amira said “The army came. I was out in the field, but my father came and found me and we left with only the things in our hands. We walked at night for a week because it was safer.

When we arrived I had never seen so many people before. It was crazy. People running everywhere. We did not know where to go. We did not know if we can eat. We were very hungry. My younger brother cried all day, every day”.

Numbers in the Kutupalong camp soon swelled to over a million. In the ensuing chaos, scores of agencies descended to provide aid, often without adequate coordination or proper consultation with refugee communities.

Numerous tube wells and latrines were placed badly or dug too shallow, resulting in facilities drying out or becoming prone to contamination.

Having built up relationships over the years, we were uniquely placed to respond to the crisis. Our 45 refugee schools were doubled up as ‘safe spaces’ for newly arrived children and, working with the refugee community, we began a humanitarian response.

We delivered over 5,800 food parcels, 5,250 solar lights and built 200 latrines and 34 tube wells, establishing committees of local people in each area to maintain them

Naeem (pictured here with his son) is a member of one of these committees, he describes how
“Before people would come and build a well or a latrine and then just leave. They don’t talk to us. We don’t know who they are. They just hang up their sign and leave when it is finished. But these people talk to us. We know who they are. When the other toilets and wells are broken, there is nothing we can do. Some of the wells only worked for one week. It’s a big waste of money”.

The 45 safe spaces catered for 2,250 newly arrived children each day, with teachers prepared to create a peaceful and safe environment.

One mother Aziza described how “They go with their friends, so they are happy and safe there. It makes everyone happy in our family that they have some place they can go. They want to draw and dance and play. That is what they should be doing. They still are just kids. They don’t belong in a place like this. No kid should be in a place like this. It’s not their fault”.

From February onwards Children on the Edge concentrated their efforts on preparing to support children in the longer term. With backing from hundreds of donors, they trained 150 teachers and constructed 150 classrooms in the camp to provide child friendly education for 7,500 newly arrived Rohingya children.

12 year old Aziz (pictured above) lost his mother in the violence as they fled Myanmar. “I don’t like to think about it” he says, “It was very sad when we came here. I cried every day. But now this is where I live. I can go to school. I am the only one in my family to ever to go to school”.

Aziz attends the Learning Centres every day and finds it a comfort that his teacher is from his village at home. 50% of the teachers are trained from within the refugee community and provide a sense of safety and familiarity.

The Centres are bright, colourful spaces focussing on creativity and self expression in addition to basic reading, writing, language and science. The curriculum is taught in a child friendly way and there are plants and flowers starting to grow outside, to create an oasis feel in the barren landscape of the camps.

Nurthza is one of the teachers here. She lost her husband in the attacks and escaped with her two children. She says “Over this time my life has changed so much. I have left everything behind. We all have. To be here and to help children is a great success after we all lost everything”.

Currently there is no resolution in sight for Rohingya people trapped on the border, and a high chance that generations will spend their lives in Bangladesh as refugees. With this stalemate entrenched, the risk of the Rohingya being forgotten once more, as the news cycle moves on, is very real.

Roshida (below) is trying to survive whilst looking after seven children, describing how “We lost everything… It is very difficult to wake up every day with nothing. But we still try”.

Children on the Edge are committed to investing in education and stability for the Rohingya children attending their Centres, and in time hope to increase their reach to cater for larger numbers. Recognising the burden on already hard pressed host communities, they are also supporting education for Bangladeshi children in Cox’s Bazar and Rohingya children living in enclave areas outside Chittagong.

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"To be here and to help children is a great success after we have lost everything" - 75 Learning Centres open their doors for Rohingya refugee children

19/6/2018

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Since our initial humanitarian response, Children on the Edge has established 75 Learning Centres in the Kutupalong Balukhali refugee camp.

Having fled brutal ethnic cleansing by the Myanmar army, children are not only traumatised, but cut off from services, and vulnerable to exploitation and disease.

To ensure consistent support, we have built 75 Learning Centres, based on our eight years experience of providing education in the original Kutupalong camp. These Centres are providing education in a safe space for 7,500 children.

Each Centre is a bright, colourful, environment with flowers and shrubs planted outside to begin to create an oasis feel within the arid landscape of the camp. 50% of our teachers are trained from within the Rohingya community, providing familiarity for the children. They have focussed on creating a safe, welcoming space, with consistent care and kindness.

Minura has been teaching with us for a few months, and tutored in Myanmar before the attacks forced her to flee. She says “I make the Centre fun by being like a mother to these children. Sometimes they are homesick or sad and I try to comfort them. I have also lost so much when I came to Bangladesh. I know they just need a place to play and be kids”.

This high level of care is already making a difference to the children. Saleha, a newly trained teacher says, “The children smile a lot more than they did one month ago. I learned that attitude is very important in teaching. I must have a good mood so the children will also”.

After generations of being marginalised, Rohingya children have little expectation of the rights they deserve, no education for the future and are ill equipped to survive the daily challenges of their environment.

Once released, we will be using a high quality curriculum, approved by the Bangladesh Government, covering literacy, writing, maths and science. Children will take standard exams to prepare them for entry into the mainstream system, should government policy allow this in the future.

Mohammed has a daughter at one of our Centres, he says “If she can get an education, she can choose life outside of the camp. I don’t want her to live the rest of her life here, but if she does not study, she will have no choice”.

The curriculum has been augmented to include elements of creativity, child rights and basic health. In the last months the children have had lessons on washing hands, using the toilet and brushing teeth. Posters in different languages illustrate health and hygiene tips and teacher Minura says “The children are cleaner and healthier now that they come to the Centre. We take time to wash our faces, hands and feet and we talk a lot about the importance of good hygiene”.

Students are encouraged to express themselves through song, dance and drama and play. Kushi, a teacher from the local community says “I try to make everything we do a game. If I only talk to the students they don’t listen, so all our activities are made into games”. Children also learn about their rights and share their views through ‘Child Councils’ who will be producing their own newsletter.

The Centres have made a huge difference to children in the short time they have been open. They describe how happy they are to attend and how much they are learning. Teaching opportunities also have a positive impact for Rohingya teachers.

Nurthza who arrived seven months ago, lost her husband in the attacks. She says, “I have two children and no husband now, so this job allows us to live. If I did not have this job, I don’t know what we would do, I really don’t know. In nine months, my life has changed so much. I have left everything behind. We all have. To be here and to help children is a great success after we have lost everything”.

Watch this space for more news from the Centres.

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Trapped Kachin Communities losing hope for the future

28/3/2018

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The displaced communities we work with in Kachin State Myanmar have displayed incredible resilience over the years. Despite living in harsh high altitude conditions in the camps, with no access to services, they have been gathering together to ensure safe spaces for their children to learn, play and recover from what they’ve been through.

Currently, the feel in the camps is one of despondence. It has been a year since the last round of peace-talks and there are none planned for the near future. The conflict in the area runs hot and cold, making it impossible for people here to ever settle or feel safe. The last military attack was just a month ago.

There are 100,000 displaced Kachin people on the borders, and after nearly seven years, they are still completely trapped. Their route home is littered with landmines, and even if they could survive the journey back, their land has now been sublet by the government to Chinese companies to use for banana plantations, or occupied by drug cartels.

Our Asia Regional Manager, John Littleton returned from visiting the camps here last month. He says “It’s the displaced civilians that pay the price for this conflict. They are caught in a political gridlock, and the pride and momentum that carried them through the first season of living in these challenging conditions is beginning to fade”.

Aid agencies are still not granted access to many conflict areas, leaving displaced communities cut off from adequate assistance. Children on the Edge remain the only international organisation providing early years support in the most remote camps along the border.

As the world’s attention remains elsewhere, this embattled civilian population are not only being forgotten, but beginning to resign themselves to their fate. It is vital that we maintain our support to the communities we are working with at this time.

Back the call for peace and accountability by taking action via Burma Campaign UK, and consider becoming one of our regular donors to provide stable support for work like this. For further information about the situation in Kachin, visit our project page.

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Rohingya refugee crisis - How we have helped so far

11/2/2018

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Since a brutal campaign of violence from the Myanmar military forced over 650,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh, Children on the Edge have been responding to the crisis. Already working in the Kutupalong camp for seven years, we were uniquely placed to offer humanitarian support.

Thanks to the generous support of many donors, we have:

A situation assessment in November revealed that many of the wells implemented by other agencies had been dug too shallow, or built near latrines causing contamination.

All our tube wells have been well placed and dug to over 600ft.

Hassan had been in the camp for two months when we dug the new well in his section. He said “There are four other tube wells in our section of the camp, but this is the only one which gives clean water.

Before we used to just use the dirty water or walk about 1 km to another deep well in the registered part of the camp”.

Rama his daughter (above) adds “My arms would get very tired carrying the water from the registered camp. I’m very happy we now have clean water close to where we live”.

Many latrines we saw in November had been placed either by water sources, creating contamination, or on steep inclines, leaving them at high risk of being washed away once the rainy season comes. They were mostly full or broken, rendering them useless for residents of the camp.

The latrines installed by Children on the Edge are dug to a proper depth and are being maintained by community committees who have been consulted throughout the process.

Naeem has been in the camp for three months. He describes how “Before people would come and build a well or a latrine and then they leave. They don’t talk to us. We don’t know who they are. They just hang up their sign and leave when it is finished. But these people talk to us. We know who they are. When the other toilets and wells are broken, there is nothing we can do.Some of the wells only worked for one week. It’s a big waste of money”.

Alongside rice provisions from the World Food Program, our parcels included food items that were higher in nutrition, including lentils, sugar, salt and oil. We also included Oral Rehydration Sachets (ORS).

Aadila, age 30 said of the parcels “I am careful with how much I cook every day. We each eat one handful of rice a day with a small portion of the lentils. I can feed my whole family this way for 2 weeks.”

Food provision is now being well co-ordinated by the larger agencies, with decent levels of nutrition, in adequate amounts.

By doubling up our established classrooms in Kutupalong, we were able to provide safe spaces for up to 2,250 newly arrived Rohingya children each day.

The children talk of skipping, games, singing and how kind their teachers are. They are focused on the songs they have learned, who is winning the games, and what they have drawn, rather than what they have been through.

Sofaya is seven years old, she says “I like when my teacher plays games with us. She is fun to play with. She makes me feel better when I am sad. I like to skip rope. I learned to jump rope at the centre. It’s a very fun way to spend time. My teacher even tries to jump rope too sometimes!”

The teachers here have been trained over the years how to support children with trauma, and how to make the space child friendly, welcoming and fun.

Staff don’t address trauma directly, but create a safe environment where children can forget where they are and what they have been through.

Ayasha (left) has been teaching for a few years and says “As the teacher we need to show them a smile every day. This will make the centre feel like a happy place for them. And then they want to come back again the next day”.

We have also provided 5250 Solar lights - without a source of light for the evening many families have trouble with cooking and other tasks, and travel around the camp is dangerous for women at night. The lighting units are strong, waterproof and portable.

Going forward our main concern is that these children have consistent support. We will have a strong focus on providing education in a safe environment for newly arrived Rohingya refugee children. This will take the form of:

- 150 new Classrooms for Rohingya refugee children in the Kutupalong camp.

- Continuing support for nine Community Learning Centres in Cox’s Bazar, which already cater for a large number of Rohingya children. We anticipate these may host many more newly arrived Rohingya refugee children as they move on from the camps further in to Bangladesh.

Together these will provide education for 8,400 children a year through 168 classrooms. This work will draw on our experience, providing colourful and innovative schools which stand out for their excellence. If you would like to find out more about education in the camps this year, don't hesitate to get in touch, or lend your support by clicking the buttons below.

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Overwhelming support for our work with the Rohingya

6/12/2017

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We have been working with the Rohingya community in Bangladesh for the last seven years, providing low-profile education for refugee children in an unregistered camp. The Rohingya have experienced persecution, oppression and human rights abuses from the Myanmar army for decades.

Since we have worked with them, we have witnessed surges of violence in 2012 and 2016, with thousands of refugees pouring into the already crowded camps. This year we were delighted that our model of low-profile, community based education here was selected as part of the Promising Practices initiative, which sourced, documented and promoted innovative practices in refugee education.

Soon after this, the horrific news about the latest wave of violence against the Rohingya began to emerge. Since the 25th of August, approximately 700,000 more refugees have fled the worst series of attacks against them to date. Our Asia Regional Manager, John Littleton said “On a human-rights level, this situation is the most appalling we have ever encountered. 2,000-3,000 people have been arriving each day with stories too horrific to print”.

Hundreds of thousands of those refugees have ended up in the unregistered Kutupalong camp where we work, making us well placed to respond to the crisis. We have begun an initial provision of food, solar lighting, clean water and sanitation, whilst doubling up our 45 refugee schools as safe spaces for new arrivals. At this time we were delighted to be chosen by The Times Christmas Appeal as their international charity, with journalists focusing on our work with the Rohingya over December.

Next year we will be building 100 more semi-permanent schools in the camp, based on the effective model of our Learning Centres in Cox’s Bazar. Ben Wilkes, Executive Director at Children on the Edge says “These new centres will draw on our experience, providing colourful and innovative schools which stand out for their excellence. Our main concern is that these children have consistent support, long after the current flurry of attention subsides.”

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Children on the Edge featured in The Times Christmas Appeal

5/12/2017

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Children on the Edge have been selected by The Times as one three charities they are raising money for this Christmas. Over the next month, the paper will focus on their work providing humanitarian assistance to thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have crossed the border from Myanmar to Bangladesh since the 25th August, fleeing a brutal military crackdown from the Myanmar army. Despite decades of attacks and persecution, this is largest wave of violence against them to date, and has been described by the UN as a ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’.

Children on the Edge Asia Regional Manager, John Littleton said “On a human-rights level, this situation is the most appalling we have ever encountered. 2,000-3,000 people have been arriving each day with stories too horrific to print”.

Esther Smitheram, Communications & Advocacy Manager at Children on the Edge said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by The Times to feature in their 2017 Christmas Appeal. This is a huge opportunity for a small, local charity like us to showcase our globally recognised approach. We hope that The Times Christmas Appeal will help to raise funds to ensure we can continue to respond the current humanitarian crisis and support this new wave of refugees in the longer term".

Refugees have fled to camps along the border of Myanmar, most of which were already at capacity. Around 60% of those refugees arriving in Bangladesh are women and children, subject to appalling conditions and at risk of hunger, trafficking and disease.

One recent arrival is Mohammed, who was shot in the leg as he fled the military, carrying his two children. He told the charity “It is taking people 12-18 days of travel to reach the border, through thick jungle, as all other routes are being watched by the military. When we arrived, there were around 2,400 of us kept in a holding area, we received a small amount of water and a packet of biscuits to last us two days”.

Children on the Edge have been providing education to some of the most forgotten Rohingya refugee children in the unregistered Kutupalong camp for the last seven years. This makes them well positioned to provide humanitarian support, through local partners, to those whose needs are the greatest.

Ben Wilkes, Executive Director at Children on the Edge has returned this week from visiting the camps in Bangladesh. He says: “The largest challenge facing the camp is the sheer scale of them. Kutupalong camp now claims the sad title of the world’s largest refugee camp. With many agencies rushing to provide aid, much work has been poorly implemented and is now causing further problems. We will be avoiding these pitfalls by ensuring we do thorough research and work with quality providers. We are currently working with local partners to provide thousands of families with clean water and sanitation, food parcels and solar lighting.”.

In addition to the provision of aid, Children on the Edge are utilising their 45 refugee schools to create safe spaces for newly arrived refugee children. They plan to provide consistent support, long after the current flurry of attention subsides, by establishing another 100 semi-permanent schools in the camp over the next year.

This work will be featured in the Times throughout December and into the start of the New Year, donations from readers will be split between Children on the Edge, Alzheimer’s Society and the Ellen Macarthur Cancer Trust.

You can donate online at thetimes.co.uk/timesappeal or call 0151 284 2336

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ROhingya Crisis - our response

The resilience of the Kachin community: From ‘Christmas in a bunker’ to rebuilding schools

4/12/2017

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Displaced families in Kachin State, Myanmar spent last Christmas Day in an emergency shelter, and New Years Day in a hastily constructed bunker as mortar shells blasted around them.

This situation has become commonplace for hundreds of Kachin children, who have fled conflict and are surviving with their families in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps on the border of Myanmar and China. The hardest to reach of these camps are situated high in the mountains, with freezing conditions and very little access to aid. Families have fled to these remote areas in the hope of finding safety, and yet are subject to regular military occupation and attack.

Spending Christmas Day in a shelter is not the worst these children have endured. 3,000 civillians from Zai Awng camp have endured regular shelling and military occupation, forcing them to the Chinese border a number of times, only to be beaten and turned away. A new settlement called Sha It Yang was eventually created, but it lacks clean water and with one road in and out, is cut off from basic supplies.

Children have witnessed terrifying attacks, been forced to hide in the jungle overnight, lost many of their friends and family on the journey, only to end up in a camp with appalling conditions. Our teacher here said “We are doing the best we can, but naturally the children are quieter, less active and less able to be engaged and creative”.

Thanks to the response of Children on the Edge supporters, we’ve been able to ensure that the two new Centres built in the new camp are warm and safe places, where children can begin to recover from what they’ve been through. Last New Year’s fireworks across the border were terrifying for them, we are hoping this year they feel safe enough to enjoy them.

Children on the Edge remain the only organisation providing ongoing support to young children in these remote camps. Going into 2018 we will be actively seeking support for this crisis that the world has overlooked. One teacher said “The wider community is so tired of the fighting, they just want to go home, and they don’t understand why the world isn’t paying attention”.

Find out more about our work in Kachin State.

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Rohingya Humanitarian Response - November situation update

29/11/2017

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In the last few months we have begun our initial response to the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh.

Children on the Edge are uniquely placed to respond to the crisis with seven years of experience working within the Rohingya refugee community.

A few of our staff have just returned from visiting our work in the Kutupalong camp and have reported that the camp’s population is currently estimated at 325,000. With Kutupalong likely to merge soon with neighbouring Balukhali camp, the numbers are set to rise to 400,000. The population density is 66,000 per km sq, creating appalling conditions.

Our Asia Regional Manager, John Littleton says “As is common in situations of crisis, the primary issue facing relief efforts amongst the many agencies in the camps is one of coordination. This, coupled with the pressure to demonstrate results to donors, has led to a wealth of rash decisions and poorly delivered services across multiple sectors”.

We are working to avoid these pitfalls in each area of provision in the following ways:

Food distribution is being handled in a fairly consistent manner across the camps, but the white rice that is most widely distributed lacks some essential nutrients. Children on the Edge are providing lentils to supplement the rice, along with salt, sugar, soybean oil and oral rehydration sachets. So far we’ve been able to support 5,800 newly arrived families with these food parcels in the areas with the least resources.

Solar Light provision has replaced our plans for cash transfers, which have now been banned by the Bangladeshi government. Many families are without a source of light for the evening. This is problematic for cooking and other tasks, and makes travel around the camp dangerous at night. We have ordered strong, waterproof and portable units which are expected to arrive in the first week of December for approximately 5,333 families.

To complement the World Food Programme's provision of rice, our food parcels currently contain lentils, salt, sugar, soybean oil and oral rehydration sachets.

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Clean water is mainly provided through the digging of tube wells. Currently, the camps are littered with hastily constructed wells, many of which have not been dug to the correct depth and have dried up. Many are not certified as clean or are placed too close to latrines, causing contamination.

We are working with ACF and training local staff to install 20 high quality tube wells with a depth of 600ft or greater, and two concrete chambers: one for washing clothes and dishes and one for pure water for cooking and drinking. The chambers are separate, so the two don’t mix and contaminate.

Latrines are also widely installed throughout the camps, with a similar degree of poor workmanship. ACF estimate that 70% of the newly dug latrines are dug at a far too shallow level and 1 in 3 are already at, or near capacity, with no indication of follow-on maintenance. Our provision will either take the form of biogas latrine facilities (which utilise waste to provide clean cooking fuel), biofil latrines or permanent latrines dug to the proper level and well maintained. Both latrines and tube well will al be completed by the end of January 2018.

In terms of education and safe spaces for children, while there are scores of prominently-signed ‘Child Friendly Spaces’ throughout the camp, the activities in each venue vary greatly. During a five-day period, we checked 22 spaces. Only nine had an adult presence there. A further six at least had some play materials and supplies, with the remaining seven appearing to labeled but empty and unused.

Children on the Edge are ‘doubling up’ our 45 refugee schools in between classes, as safe spaces for new arrivals (see video below). We are also in the process of identifying areas with the greatest concentration of newly arrived children, without access to schooling. In blocks of the camp that we have already surveyed, there is approximately 31,000 school-aged children who have had no contact with a Child Friendly Space or a non-religious school.

We have already gained agreement to build up to 100 new semi-permanent learning centres, with the aim of beginning to provide education for 10,000 children by February 2018 in a two shift system.

Ben Wilkes, Executive Director says “These new centres will draw on our experience, providing colourful and innovative schools which stand out for their excellence. Our main concern is that these children have consistent support, long after the current flurry of attention subsides.”

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Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis in Bangladesh - Our Response

4/10/2017

Photo credit: Photoshot / Avalon

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Rachel Bentley is the International Director of Children on the Edge. Returning from a visit to Bangladesh in September•, she made the following statement:

In the last month, a catastrophic rise of violence and ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State, Myanmar has forced over 480,000 Rohingya across the border to Bangladesh, into makeshift refugee camps and local communities. These already impoverished communities, who are still taking stock of recent flood damage, are ill-equipped to host scores of traumatised new arrivals.

Returning today from a trip to Cox’s Bazar and the Kutapalong area where we work, it is clear that the situation is in flux and evolving every day. At present we have observed the following regarding the location, conditions and provision of aid for refugees:

Makeshift Camps - The majority of new refugee arrivals are currently residing in appalling conditions within Kutupalong camp, which currently has an estimated population of over 300,000 people. This is made up of this month’s arrivals, and those who fled the surge of violence last October. According to our partners, 57% of these refugees are children. We have been working in the makeshift Kutupalong camp, providing education in a safe space for Rohingya refugee children for six years.
Local Communities - Over the last few weeks, in the slum communities of Cox’s Bazar and further enclave areas, there have been over 50,000 Rohingya arrivals. These areas are outside the scope of the UN and larger agencies, consequently it is here that Children on the Edge have been concentrating its efforts. We have been working here for many years supporting Community schools for working children and education for Rohingya enclave communities.

Pushback - There are many reports of Bangladeshi authorities pushing thousands of new arrivals back to the camps. It has been unclear how many have returned, or how long they will stay, but even before this recent influx, these communities were already 30 - 40% Rohingya. Due to fear of being discovered by the Bangladeshi authorities, Rohingya arrivals do not identify themselves.
Current provision - Media coverage has resulted in a dramatic change in the landscape of Cox’s Bazar, with many new organisations arriving in town. After needs assessments, some of the newer organisations will start work, but our local partners estimate that these will be short-lived aid responses, of around 3 months.

Our concern is that there will be an exodus of these organisations after this 3-month emergency stage. By the end of 2017, there is significant potential that thousands of refugees will be left without ongoing support. All larger aid agencies are limited to the official camps, so any refugee population returning to the slum communities will also be without help.

Our response

There are few solutions being presented for this beleaguered and stateless population, who are still largely unwelcome in Bangladesh and remain victims of hatred in Myanmar.

Over the last week our partners have conducted a survey determining that at present, the majority of refugees are situated in the Kutupalong camp. They are now carrying out further needs assessments, ascertaining how best to help in camp, identifying unreached groups and gaps in provision.

This will direct our first tranche of emergency humanitarian support (October-December 2017). This response will be implemented by our partners, MUKTI who we have been working with since 2000 and who have ample capacity.

We anticipate that within the next few weeks and months, refugees will migrate back towards the slum areas around Cox’s Bazar. Children on the Edge already have a presence in many of these communities through our support of Learning Centres for working children.

The second tranche of our support will commence from January 2018 onwards. During this stage it is likely we will establish a number of new learning centres for Rohingya children in the communities, however we will be constantly monitoring a situation that is, and will continue to be in constant flux.

The priority of any work we deliver is to extend support to the most vulnerable refugees, those who are unreached and overlooked. Whether in the camp areas or the communities, during this phase the Centres we establish will provide stable, safe spaces for children to learn, play and recover from the trauma they have been through.

This is an ongoing humanitarian emergency that will persist beyond 2018. We need to establish immediate humanitarian provision, as well as consistent longer term support for the most vulnerable displaced Rohingya children.

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Thousands of Rohingya have been pushed back to the border camps by the military. Photo credit: Photoshot / Avalon

• A more recent situation report (November 2017) can be found here

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