United Nations, Jan 10 : While the eyes of the world are on Myanmar’s northern Rakhine and Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh, more than 60,000 Rohingya children remain nearly forgotten, trapped in appalling camps in central Rakhine where the shelters teeter on stilts above garbage and excrement, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reported.
“Partners have identified about 20 children separated from their families during the violence but estimate the total number to be at least 100 – most of whom are in parts of northern Rakhine state that they still cannot access,” Marixie Mercado, UNICEF spokesperson on Tuesday told journalists in Geneva today during a briefing on her visit to Myanmar from 6 December 2017 through 3 January.
She painted a harrowing picture of the situation in Rakhine, noting that prior to 25 August, when the most recent outbreak of violence occurred, UNICEF had been treating 4,800 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition; these children are no longer receiving this life-saving treatment.
(UNI)
