Bangladesh is sheltering more than 1 million Rohingya, members of a persecuted Muslim minority who fled violent purges in neighbouring Myanmar mainly in 2016 and 2017, in tents in the southeastern Cox’s Bazar area, where they have limited access to work or training.
About 70, 000 fled to Bangladesh last month, driven in part by growing poverty in their household Rakhine state, Reuters has reported.
Sabir, a father of five children, said:” We are never allowed to work around. I feel vulnerable when I think of my kids. What did I serve them”?
” I hope we are never forgotten. The international community must come forth to aid”, Sabir said.
The WFP has emphasised that it requires US$ 15 million in April to retain complete meals for the migrants. But doubts are growing about the impact on food safety during the sacred month of Ramadan, which this year ends in the last weeks of March.
Bangladesh’s time government, which took power in August 2024 after mass protests that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is hoping that Guterres ‘ visit will help bring global attention to the issue and mobilise support for the migrants.
Guterres is scheduled to take part in a fasting break on Friday afternoon with refugees during Iftar, accompanied by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government.
” Without work or income, this will have catastrophic consequences”, 80-year-old refugee Abdur Salam said of the food ration cuts. ” What kind of life is this? If you can’t give us enough food, please send us back to our homeland. We want to return to Myanmar with our rights”.