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

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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”.

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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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