Rohingya children in dire straits, says UNICEF

GENEVA, Oct 20 (Reuters): Nearly 340,000 Rohingya children are living in squalid conditions in Bangladesh camps where they lack enough food, clean water and health care, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

Up to 12,000 more children join them every week, fleeing violence or hunger in Myanmar, often still traumatised by atrocities they witnessed, it said in a report "Outcast and Desperate".

In all, almost 600,000 Rohingya refugees have left northern Rakhine state since Aug. 25 when the UN says the Myanmar army began a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" following insurgent attacks.

"This isn't going to be a short-term, it isn't going to end anytime soon," Simon Ingram, the report's author and a UNICEF official, told a news briefing.

"So it is absolutely critical that the borders remain open and that protection for children is given and equally that children born in Bangladesh have their birth registered."

Most Rohingya are stateless in Myanmar and many fled without papers, he said, adding of the newborns in Bangladesh: "Without an identity they have no chance of ever assimilating into any society effectively."

Safe drinking water and toilets are in "desperately short supply" in the chaotic, teeming camps and settlements, Ingram said after spending two weeks in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

"In a sense it's no surprise that they must truly see this place as a hell on earth," he said.

One in five Rohingya children under the age of five is estimated to be acutely malnourished, requiring medical attention, he said.

"There is a very, very severe risk of outbreaks of water-borne diseases, diarrhoea and quite conceivably cholera in the longer-term," he added.

UNICEF is providing clean water and toilets, and has helped vaccinate children against measles and cholera, which can be deadly, he said.

The agency is seeking $76 million under a $434 million U.N. appeal for Rohingya refugees for six months, but is only 7 per cent funded, he said, speaking ahead of a pledging conference in Geneva on Monday.

UNB reports: The UNHCR on Friday expressed hope that donors will come with their generous supports at the pledging conference to be held in Geneva on October 23 to help Rohingyas living in Bangladesh.

"We hope for timely and generous donor support at the pledging conference for Rohingyas," said UNHCR spokesperson Duniya Aslam Khan at a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

The joint response plan requires US$ 434 million to meet the life-saving needs of all Rohingyas and their host communities - together an estimated 1.2 million people - for the difficult months to come.

UNHCR's portion of that plan amounts to US$ 83.7 of additional funds until the end of February 2018.

"Our emergency assistance focuses on refugee protection, shelter, water and sanitation, establishing new sites, upgrading infrastructure and strengthening the capacity of the local communities across south-east Bangladesh," said the Spokesperson.

Since the onset of the current emergency, UNHCR, upon the request of Bangladeshi authorities has expanded its response and operations, presence and staff throughout south-east Bangladesh.

"For UNHCR, it is vital even at the early stage, that its response reflects mid- to long-term needs, while at the same time ensuring that the voluntary return of refugees in safety and dignity remains a viable option. In this regard, restoring peace and stability in northern Rakhine state is critical," Aslam said.

Thousands of Rohingyas from Myanmar have been admitted to Bangladesh after spending up to four days stranded near the border.

By Thursday night, Bangladesh border guards reported that over 6,800 refugees had passed through Anjuman Para border village in Cox's Bazar district, said the UNHCR Spokesperson.

Thousands more are said to be on their way from Myanmar.

The most vulnerable among the new arrivals are bussed from the border to a transit centre near Kutupalong camp.

At the centre, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its partners provide food, water, medical checks and temporary shelter. Other new arrivals walk to Kutupalong refugee camp, where they spend the night in existing structures and buildings.

Meanwhile UNHCR and its partners continue to work with the Bangladesh authorities on the new Kutupalong extension site. To target assistance and protection interventions, UNHCR is continuing its joint family counting exercise with the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission. More than 180,000 refugees have so far been counted and the exercise is now taking place in Kutupalong Extension.