BANDARBAN, BANGLADESH: In front of them, border guards block entry to Bangladesh. Behind them, the Myanmar Army plants deadly land mines to prevent their return.
Bandarban is the exotic jewel in Bangladesh’s tourist crown. Today, it is a nightmare no-man’s land for 20,000 Rohingya desperate for food, water and medical help.
Shab-e-Meraj, 26, crossed the shallow Tombru river holding her two-month-old daughter Noor Kaida, who was suffering from fever. She sought help from the Medecins Sans Frontieres medical aid agency.
About 300 men and women, all thin and starving, waited in queues to see the MSF doctors.
Meraj used to live in the village of Raimmyakhali in Rakhine state in Myanmar. She said soldiers torched their homes with the help of Buddhist villagers. It took her three hours to walk to the border.
Her husband Mohammed Noor, a day laborer, fled here with nine members of his family when the bloodshed in Racine began. Now they survive mostly on dry food offered by villagers and local volunteers.
Meraj said: “There is no way I can return to that hell.”
For kilometers, as far as the eye can see, there are makeshift houses on the hilltops of this border area, where 20,000 Rohingya have been trapped for more than a week. “We are trying our level best to provide them with food and drinking water,” said local government official Jahangir Aziz. “This morning I have distributed 2kg of rice, lentils, onion etc for each family that took shelter in my district.”
However, food supplies in the village market had been exhausted because of the refugees, he said. “I am afraid of deterioration in the law and order situation. All the educational institutions are closed for Eid Al-Adha but classes will resume from tomorrow. I don’t know how the students will attend the classes. My whole area has turned into a dustbin.”
The local authorities have set up four tube wells to provide clean drinking water for the refugees, and several more are planned. A local philanthropist started work on providing 10 lavatories.
Small trucks carrying relief goods move through the narrow roads. Aid agency volunteers are trying to provide basic support, and Red Cross workers distribute drinking water in plastic bags, but they cannot cope with the demand.
The trapped Rohingya are among 150,000 who have fled Myanmar, according to AFP. Many are sleeping in the open air and are in dire need of food and water after walking for days to reach safety. “There is an urgent need for emergency shelters and for land to build these shelters on,” said Vivian Tan, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency.
“These people have walked for days. Some of them haven't eaten for days since they left. They survived on rain water and groundwater.”
Bangladeshi rights campaigner Nur Khan Liton said a “massive humanitarian crisis” was unfolding. “People are staying in refugee camps, on the roads, school yards and under open sky. They are clearing forest to create new settlements. There is an acute crisis of water and food,” he said.
20,000 Rohingya in no-man’s land battle hunger, disease
20,000 Rohingya in no-man’s land battle hunger, disease
Indian teacher who created hundreds of learning centers wins $1 million Global Teacher Prize
- Nagi is the 10th teacher to win the award, which the foundation began handing out in 2015
DUBAI: An Indian teacher and activist known for creating hundreds of learning centers and painting educational murals across the walls of slums won the $1 million Global Teacher Prize on Thursday.
Rouble Nagi accepted the award at the World Governments Summit in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, an annual event that draws leaders from across the globe.
Her Rouble Nagi Art Foundation has established more than 800 learning centers across India. They aim to have children who never attended school begin to have structured learning. They also teach children already in school.
Nagi also paints murals that teach literacy, science, math and history, among other topics.
The prize is awarded by the Varkey Foundation, whose founder, Sunny Varkey, established the for-profit GEMS Education company that runs dozens of schools in Egypt, Qatar and the UAE.
“Rouble Nagi represents the very best of what teaching can be – courage, creativity, compassion, and an unwavering belief in every child’s potential,” Varkey said in a statement posted to the Global Teacher Prize website. “By bringing education to the most marginalized communities, she has not only changed individual lives, but strengthened families and communities.”
Nagi plans to use the $1 million to build an institute that offers free vocational training.
Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, said Nagi’s prize “reminds us of a simple truth: teachers matter.”
In comments carried on the prize website, Giannini said UNESCO was “honored to join the Global Teacher Prize in celebrating teachers like you, who, through patience, determination, and belief in every learner, help children into school — an act that can change the course of a life.”
Nagi is the 10th teacher to win the award, which the foundation began handing out in 2015.
Past winners of the Global Teacher Prize have included a Kenyan teacher from a remote village who gave away most of his earnings to the poor, a Palestinian primary school teacher who teaches her students about non-violence and a Canadian educator who taught a remote Arctic village of Inuit students. Last year’s winner was Saudi educator Mansour Al-Mansour, who was known for his work with the poor in the kingdom.
GEMS Education, or Global Education Management Systems, is one of the world’s largest private school operators and is believed to be worth billions. Its success has followed that of Dubai, where only private schools offer classes for the children of the foreigners who power its economy.
