Concern Worldwide has embarked on a Bangladesh Monsoon Appeal in order to raise funding to deal with the extreme funding and landslides that threaten thousands of refugees from Myanmar living in Bangladesh. There are almost a million Rohingya refugees in the country many of whom are children living in cramped shelters on perilous silty land in Cox’s Bazar. Most have sought refuge there after feeling violence in Myanmar.
Extremely vulnerable to the weather
The huts sit on land stripped of vegetation producing terrain that is highly susceptible to the heavy rains and strong winds of the monsoon and cyclone season. More that 1.3 million people are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance and aid agencies have been working 24/7 to prevent the outbreak of disease and deaths from escalating any further. Concern’s Cox’s Bazaar representative Gillian Boyle says most people live in flimsy tents constructed using bamboo and tarp and are completely exposed to the weather.
Number of dead and injured expected to rise
Boyle adds that as the rains continue there is an increased risk of landslides and the number of people who suffer injuries, death or the loss of their homes will rise significantly. The rains have already been so intense that one of the two main roads heading into the camp has already been shut. Concern is seeking to ensure that the people living in the camps are well-prepared, able to deal with more rainfall and able to take the required steps to stop the outbreak of disease.
Please donate
Concern is scaling up its response by expanding its nutrition programme and ensuring that as many as 75,000 of the most vulnerable families have access to shelter, sanitation and hygiene. So far Concern has screened almost half a million children aged under five for malnutrition. The agency detected 7,057 severe cases and 37,029 moderate cases and treated them. As part of its scaled response, Concern intends to distribute ‘dignity kits’ containing menstrual cloths, clothing and solar lighting to over 6,000 women. If you can, please make a donation to Concern’s Bangladesh Monsoon Appeal.
