No place to call home: Bangladesh’s newest refugees

Monday, September 18, 2017

Reprieve from death- that is one small grain of comfort for people fleeing violence in Myanmar who have safely crossed into Bangladesh. “We survived,” said Sahara Begum, who came alone with her one-month-old baby. But the price of that survival? “We have no place to live, no money. We have nothing,” she told World Vision during a field assessment in Cox’s Bazar, whose population has ballooned by more than 400,000 in recent weeks with the refugee influx.

“My husband named our first baby ‘Siddika’ [a woman for truthfulness]” said Sahara. Only one month after her baby’s birth, she lost her husband, who was killed during violence that erupted in late August near their home in Myanmar. And then her home was targeted, still smoldering in fire when she escaped. 

Another recently arrived refugee in Bangladesh, Hossain, fled with villagers and his one-and-a-half year old daughter, crisscrossing hills and dodging gunfire for three days before they reached safety.

"Our houses were burnt down, people were killed. We came together, all 300, whoever survived.”

Clean drinking water, schooling for his four children, latrine and plastic roofing top his wish list. “When it rains we all get wet,” he told World Vision, holding his daughter, Yasminara.

Nearly half of the estimated 400,000 arrivals are children.

Urgent needs, according to preliminary assessments compiled by a UN-led consortium, include emergency shelter, food and nutrition, clean water, water and sanitation facilities, basic health care to address acute injuries and children friendly space for more than 200,000 children – a number that grows daily.

Lal, a father who fled with two children, 7-year-old Osman and 8-year-old Manu, sheltered several days on the road before he reached a makeshift refugee camp. His greatest concern in the coming days and weeks is basic, almost primal.

"How will I provide food for my children,” he wondered aloud.