Staff Reporter:
The number of Rohingya refugees who left Bangladesh by boats in the first six months of the year tripled compared to last year, as conditions for children in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar camps continue to deteriorate and funding cuts reduce essential services, said Save the Children.
About 1,088 Rohingya refugees embarked on sea journeys from Bangladesh during the first six months of this year, with around 87 of them children, compared to 364 people during the same period last year, according to figures from the UNHCR.
Save the Children has called on donors to urgently increase funding for education, livelihoods and improved security in the camps to address the desperation driving dangerous sea journeys.
It urged regional governments to allow boats to safely disembark and to provide assistance and protection to refugees.
It said regional cooperation and responsibility-sharing are essential to prevent further loss of life and protect vulnerable children and families.
As the rainy season ends and the situation in the camps continues to deteriorate, with increasing crime and reducing services, more families are contemplating whether to leave and brave dangerous boat journeys in search of a better life.
Rahim, 20 years old, who lives in one of the camps in Cox’s Bazar, said he’s contemplated fleeing the camps.
“Life in the camp is getting harder every day. There’s no proper work, no chance to study. Also, I believe that if I could cross the sea and go abroad, I could support my family financially. Many of my friends talk about going to Malaysia, they think it’s the only way to build a future and support their families. I also thought about it once, but after hearing how some people were caught, beaten, or never came back, I’m scared. Still, when you see no hope here, it’s difficult not to dream of leaving,” he said.
Reduced funding, which has led to cuts in essential services like education and healthcare, and international aid cuts have meant that this has been a particularly difficult year for children living in the world’s largest refugee camp.
Traditionally, Rohingya refugees looking to leave Bangladesh have taken to sea in October, at the end of the region’s rainy season, on journeys that are often fraught with danger, including for children who risk abuse at sea and sometimes travel unaccompanied without their parents or guardians.
Abeda Sultana, senior project officer for Child Poverty at Save the Children, said, “As an aid worker, I see that limited livelihood options and growing insecurity in the camps are major reasons why many Rohingya youth take the risk of migrating irregularly.
Economic pressure and the need to support their families also push youth to take such high risks. Hearing success stories from peers who migrated successfully continues to encourage others to follow the same unsafe routes.”
