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DHAKA: UNICEF Global Goodwill Ambassador and Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra on Thursday called upon the global communities to come forward extending all-out assistance to the Rohingyas living in vulnerable camps in Cox’s Bazar of Bangladesh. Speaking at a press conference, Priyanka urged the global community, “Open your hearts with compassion. Please be sympathetic and treat these [Rohingya] children as your own.” She was concerned about the possibility of a “generation loss” of a particular ethnicity and said that the world will have to take the responsibility of the Rohingya children “Do we need anymore [violence]?… the only thing I can see is a generation of children who don’t have education, healthcare and who will be vulnerable to violence,” Priyanka told a packed room at Le Meridien Dhaka hotel. “The refugee children are the world’s responsibility. Because they don’t have anywhere to go, they don’t have anyone to call their own.” ...

NEW DELHI: Major blaze engulfs camp for Rohingya refugees located in Kalini Kunj area in New Delhi The camp is home to around 226 refugees. According to reports, the blaze, which reportedly broke at 3:30 am on Sunday morning, 15 April razed the entire encampment. Fire tenders had brought under control by 6:50 am after almost four hours. Although, no injuries were reported in the fire, however around 60 families left homeless as all documents, clothes and food were gutted in the flames and thick clouds of black smoke that rose on Sunday. “We are yet to ascertain the cause of the fire. It began at 3 am. We called the fire station by 3.15 am and they arrived around 3.55 am. Fire tenders took almost four hours to douse the fire in the area where around 60 families live. In the camp all the homes were made of asbestos sheets and they are all completely gutted,” Ali Johar, a resident of the camp and an UN volunteer was quoted by National Herald.

As thousands of Rohingya refugees  streamed into the Kutupalong area from Myanmar last September, he did not hesitate when a group of exhausted families asked if they could use some of his lands for temporary shelter. “Seeing their sufferings, I couldn’t bear it anymore, which is why I agreed to let them stay on my land,” says the father of three. “Many of them brought rice on their own, I provided them firewood and vegetables and fish.” At first, Karim allowed 40 of the families to stay in his home, surrounded by rice paddies, mangrove trees, and vegetable plots. After nine days, the newcomers were able to build their own makeshift shelters with materials provided by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Among those Karim sheltered was 26-year-old Abul Manzur, who fled attacks by Myanmar troops and militia. He trekked for weeks in search of safety before finally settling on Karim’s land. “We have never been disturbed by anyone since we got here,” says Manzur with evide...

Saudi Arabia, represented by the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Work (KSARelief), pledged to pay $20 million to resolve the Rohingya refugee crisis. Addressing the International Donors’ Conference held in Geneva Monday, Dr. Yahya Al-Shammari, head of KSARelief, extended his thanks and appreciation of both Kuwait and the European Union for hosting such a key conference for raising urgent humanitarian aid for Rohingya Muslims who fled persecution in Myanmar. He also thanked the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for organizing the event, which will contribute to alleviate the suffering of the Rohingya refugees, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Al-Shammari commended the great humanitarian role played by Bangladesh through receiving over 580,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, in one of the largest movemen...

At least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in the month after violence broke out in Myanmar in August, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says. Based on surveys of refugees in Bangladesh, the number is much higher than Myanmar's official figure of 400. MSF said it was "the clearest indication yet of the widespread violence" by Myanmar authorities. The Myanmar military blames the violence on "terrorists" and has denied any wrongdoing. More than 647,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh since August, MSF says. The aid group's survey found that at least 9,000 Rohingya died in Myanmar, also known as Burma, between 25 August and 24 September. "In the most conservative estimations" at least 6,700 of those deaths have been caused by violence, including at least 730 children under the age of five, according to MSF. Previously, the armed forces stated that around 400 people had been killed, most of them described as Muslim terrorists. The mili...