Why is Bangladesh keeping Rohingya refugee children locked behind barbed wire?

What most people don’t realise is that the majority of Rohingya refugees who fled to Bangladesh were children.

For almost four years these children have been living in appalling conditions. They are in cramped unsafe temporary shelters which have no electricity, running water or toilets. Most have had no formal education. Access to healthcare is limited. No child should be growing up in these conditions.

Please email the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and urge her to ensure that Rohingya refugees, who are mostly children, no longer have to live in these squalid camps.

They seem to think that if they allow these children to live in better conditions it will encourage more refugees to come, and encourage existing refugees to stay in Bangladesh.

Rohingya refugees are going to Bangladesh because they are facing genocide, not because they want to leave their homes, farms and villages to live in refugee camps.

The military coup makes it even more unlikely that Rohingya refugees will be able to return home any time soon. Bangladesh needs to change its approach to Rohingya refugees, and start making plans for accommodating Rohingya refugees longer term. They need decent housing with electricity and sanitation, and education and healthcare.

Please email Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, asking her to ensure that Rohingya refugees, who are mostly children, no longer have to live in squalid conditions in camps surrounded by barbed wire.

Thank you.

Mark Farmaner
Burma Campaign UK