Description:
"...Almost 400,000 Rohingya refugees have surged into Bangladesh from Myanmar?s Rakhine State over the last three weeks. They come on foot, plodding for days through underbrush and dirt trails; they arrive by boat, risking the monsoon season waves along the coast, or the currents of the Naf River, which divides the two countries along Bangladesh?s southern edge.Aid groups say the influx has exhausted relief supplies and pushed existing refugee camps ? filled by earlier waves of Rohingya refugees ? to the breaking point. With no space left in the camps, refugees are spreading out on roadsides, or spontaneously forming new settlements in open spaces.
?It?s beyond overcrowded,” says Vivian Tan, a spokeswoman for the UN?s refugee agency, UNHCR. ?A few days ago, we thought it was at saturation point. Since then, more people have arrived. And they?re still coming.”
For mile after mile, refugees line the roads around the overflowing camps. Some sit on old rice bags, filled with what belongings they managed to bring with them. Luckier ones carry a solar panel, or a chicken. Others carry their elderly relatives on their backs. For now, the Rohingya are safe in Bangladesh ? but they have nowhere to go..."
Source/publisher:
Irin
Date of Publication:
2017-09-15
Date of entry:
2017-09-15
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English
