Ongoing conflict and famine forcing families from their homes – urgent help needed

Since Aug. 25, 2017, more than 700,000 people from Myanmar have fled to Bangladesh because of extreme violence in northern Rakhine state, on the country’s western Bay of Bengal coast. Most of the refugees identify as Rohingya, a Muslim minority ethnic group, in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar. Flooding into camps near the town of Cox’s Bazar, they joined more than 200,000 people who fled to Bangladesh years earlier. About 55 percent of the refugees are children.

Aid agencies are struggling to adequately serve 1.3 million people who need assistance, including those in local communities. Many refugees brought little with them and are dependent on humanitarian aid for shelter, food, clothing, and healthcare. During the monsoon season, they faced floods and landslides in flimsy shelters.