14,000 lone children among Rohingya refugees: Official

AFP

World, Asia

The UN says 536,000 mainly Rohingya refugees have arrived from Myanmar’s strife-torn Rakhine state since August 25, the majority of them children.

Myanmar’s President Htin Kyaw and state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi speak during a photo session after the second anniversary of the signing of nationwide ceasefire agreementat the Myanmar International Convention Centre on Sunday. (Photo: AP)

Cox’s Bazar: Nearly 14,000 children who have lost one or both parents are among the more than half a million Rohingya refugees who crossed in Bangladesh to escape violence in Myanmar, an official said Sunday.

The UN says 536,000 mainly Rohingya refugees have arrived from Myanmar’s strife-torn Rakhine state since August 25, the majority of them children.

Bangladesh’s social services department said 13,751 children without a parent or parents were identified in a survey of the crowded refugee camps along its border, where charities warn that a humanitarian crisis is unfolding.

“The majority of them said they lost one or both parents in the violence in Rakhine,” Pritam Kumar Chowdhury, a department deputy director, told AFP.

“Others said they didn’t know what happened to their parents, and they came to Bangladesh with relatives.”

Read more...