UNHCR Aids Refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh
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UNHCR’s involvement in Bangladesh began in 1971, after the Liberation War when assistance was given to millions of Bangladeshi refugees returning to Bangladesh from India. In1991-1992, 230,000 refugees came across from Northern Rakhine State of Myanmar due to a complex mixture of political, social and economic reasons. In 1993, UNHCR signed a memorandum of understanding with the government to set up an office and start work. UNHCR set up 22 camps to provide them with basic assistance.
By the end of 1997, more than 90% of the refugees returned to Myanmar. Today, there are approximately 22,000 refugees living in the two camps of Kutupalong and Nayapara on the narrow strip of land between Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf, west of Myanmar.
“We ensure that the refugees are protected and are repatriating to Myanmar on a voluntary basis,” says UNHCR programme officer, Naomi Kawahara. The refugees are officially not allowed to leave the camp, so there is no integration into the community.
UNHCR coordinates the provision of assistance such as food, household items, shelter, health care and education for the refugees in close association with the Government, World Food Programme, Concern, Medecins Sans Frontieres Holland and the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society.
“We give them materials to build their houses with latrines and baths. Tube wells provide water. We also provide blankets, mosquito nets and sleeping mats,” Ms Kawahara said.
Volunteer refugee teachers give children a basic education in their own language while adults, especially women, are taught sewing, soap and notebook making. These products are distributed within the camp. They are also given seeds to grow vegetables and they plant and nurture 10,000 saplings each year to protect the environment.
There are special programmes for the elderly, handicapped and other vulnerable groups.
“The idea is to give them some skills they can use when they go back home,” Ms Kawahara pointed out. “Repatriation is the best solution but some of them are still not able to take a decision.”
Across the border in Myanmar, UNHCR has an extensive programme to assist returning refugees to settle back into their society.
“If someone doesn’t know the situation in his village, we ask UNHCR in Myanmar to go and check it out and let us know so we can tell him,” said Ms Kawahara. “We provide information on what life is like in Myanmar and show videos on our assistance programme.”
In addition to the refugees in Cox’s Bazar, UNHCR is also helping some 120 urban refugees mainly from Myanmar and Somalia who live in the cities. They live in the community and receive financial assistance in order to sustain their lives. Training is provided so that they can become independent from assistance.
The
theme for this year’s World Refugee Day is
“Refugee Youth: building the Future”
“The days of our youth are the days of our glory”.
So wrote the poet Byron. But tragically, for 20 million young people
around the world, the days of their youth, far from being days of glory,
are often filled with hopeless misery, unspeakable cruelty and heartless
exploitation. Among them are the world’s refugee youth – youngsters whose
only crime was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and who now
find themselves the displaced victims of other people’s wars and
conflicts.
It is the special plight of these innocents that UNHCR wishes to
spotlight, by dedicating World Refugee Day 2003 to Refugee Youth, and
thereby open the eyes of a worldwide audience to their needs. We also wish
to accentuate the positive by celebrating their many strengths, their huge
potential, and their capacity to help themselves and their communities.
Our aim is to provide refugee youth with a heightened sense of value and
self–worth; to help them gather their strength and courage, spread their
wings … and fly!