Fear and Suffering Remain, One Year Into Rohingya Crisis

Mercy Corps calls for increased global funding to meet gaps in response

DHAKA, Bangladesh — A year into the Rohingya crisis, the humanitarian response remains woefully underfunded and young refugees in particular still struggle to cope with what they have seen and experienced.

“For most people in Cox’s Bazar, little has changed in a year,” says Rumana Masud, Bangladesh Country Director for Mercy Corps. “Parents tell us their children are having bad dreams, lashing out and don’t understand what they have seen and been through. Young refugees especially need time and support to cope with the difficult emotions and stress they are experiencing. The support teenagers get now will determine their futures and shape the adults they become.”

Mercy Corps and its partners are building child-friendly spaces where social skills such as cooperation, sharing, and communication are taught. Additionally, they are revamping water and sanitation systems, sharing accurate information about health and hygiene risks and providing solar street lights to improve safety and freedom of movement.

“The camps are overcrowded and there’s little lighting at night, so women and girls are afraid to move around or even go to the latrines,” says Masud. “In a place of refuge, basic safety should not be a question.”

The Rohingya refugee crisis is a human rights and humanitarian disaster that has, in one year alone, rapidly grown in numbers. More than 1.3 million refugees — targets of violent attacks in Rakhine State in Myanmar— and host community members have been affected. One year into the crisis, the humanitarian response remains woefully underfunded: a mere 33 percent of the roughly $950 million needed to respond has been funded. As a result, refugees live in overcrowded camps that lack sufficient clean water where latrines are on the brink of collapse.

Join us and support Mercy Corps’ work in Bangladesh and elsewhere in the world.