DHAKA: The more than half-a-million Rohingya who have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh in recent weeks represent “the world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis,” UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock said on Friday.
Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, are at great risk of water-borne diseases despite relief efforts by the government, and local and international NGOs.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has declared a level-3 emergency — the top level — to tackle the crisis, seeking more funds to support its initiatives.
UNICEF is appealing for $83.7 million in additional funds to deal with the refugee crisis, while the World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking $10.2 million.
UNICEF said it is speeding up efforts to stop the spread of diarrhea and cholera among refugee children, and will begin a vaccination campaign against cholera on Oct. 10.
“We’ve been living in Kutupalang refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar for the last 27 days,” said Rahima Khatun, 35, who was waiting at a mobile medical clinic with her two-year-old daughter Farida, who has diarrhea.
“We couldn’t feed the girl properly, and now she’s very thin,” she said, adding that Farida vomits every time she eats something.
Dr. Shariful Huq Rumi, a physician with the NGO Gonoshastho Kendro who is treating refugees in Kutupalang, said: “Children are the most vulnerable and worst hit at this time. Nearly 60 percent of the patients affected by diarrhea are below the age of 10.”
The NGO has launched two specialized diarrhea centers in collaboration with the UNHCR to treat Rohingya refugees.
The centers’ capacity is being increased from 20 beds to 80 to cater for the high number of patients. “We offer round-the-clock treatment for diarrhea patients,” said Rumi.
Surgeon Dr. Abdus Salam told Arab News: “We’re trying our best to cope up with the situation, but demand is huge. Around 50 mobile clinics are working to provide medical support, 20 of them set up by the Bangladesh government. We’re all engaging in herculean efforts to address this humanitarian crisis.”
UN: Rohingya represent ‘world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis’
UN: Rohingya represent ‘world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis’
Kosovo, Serbia ‘need to normalize’ relations
- Kosovo, which hopes to join NATO, has also been cultivating relations with Washington in recent months, by removing tariffs on American products
PRISTINA: Kosovo and Serbia need to “normalize” their relations, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti said, several days before legislative elections where he is seeking to extend his term with more solid backing.
Kurti has been in office since 2021 and previous accords signed with Serbia — which does not recognize the independence of its former province — have yet to be respected.
“We need to normalize relations with Serbia,” said Kurti. “But normalizing relations with a neighboring authoritarian regime that doesn’t recognize you, that also doesn’t admit to the crimes committed during the war, is quite difficult,” he added.
Tensions between the two neighbors are regularly high.
“We do have a normalization agreement,” Kurti said, referring to the agreement signed under the auspices of the EU in 2023.
“We must implement it, which implies mutual recognition between the countries, at least de facto recognition.”
But to resume dialogue, Serbia “must hand over Milan Radoicic,” a Serb accused of plotting an attack in northern Kosovo in 2023, Kurti asserted, hoping that “the EU, France, and Germany will put pressure” on Belgrade to do so.
Kosovo, which hopes to join NATO, has also been cultivating relations with Washington in recent months, by removing tariffs on American products and agreeing to accept up to 50 migrants from third countries extradited by the US. So far, only one has arrived.
“We are not asking for any financial assistance in return,” Kurti emphasized. “We are doing this to help the US, which is a partner, an ally, a friend,” added the prime minister, who did not rule out making similar agreements with European countries.
Unable to secure enough seats in the February 2025 parliamentary elections, Kurti was forced to call early elections on Sunday, after 10 months of political deadlock during which the divided parliament failed to form a coalition.
“We need a decisive victory. In February, we won 42.3 percent, and this time we want to exceed 50 percent,” he said.
