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Woman with child in Cox's Bazar Camp

Nur Nahar*, 24 years old., lives with her husband Rafiq Ullah* (30 years old) and 3 children, (10 years old, 5 years old and 10 months). All her children have had pneumonia. Case story: Nur Nahar*, in her own words: My son was having breathing problems for 4 days. I took him to the other hospital (SCI health post) down to our house. They gave some syrup and asked us to feed my son. I fed him and waited for 4 days to get well but he did not and on that day, at night at around 8.30pm we took him to the clinic with my husband. Before taking him there we took him to a witch doctor but it got worse. The doctor examined him and told us that we have to admit him. We did and the doctor started treatment. The gave him Nebulization first and then after some time my son became safe and started breathing normally. Before that he could not sleep because of the cough and fast breathing. But after that he slept well. The doctor also gave him some medicine. We stayed there for two days and two nights until he got better. Then we were discharged. My husband took him to take nebulization for three days after that. My other children also had this problem when they were at this age. The elder son had this problem until he was five years old and the daughter still has a little bit of the problem. But none of them was so serious as the little one. When I saw the same problem of my little son was more serious than the others I was afraid and worried. Because he was hardly breathing. The neighbours said he would not survive and we also had no hope. But God gave us the sense to take him to the clinic and after receiving the treatment he got better. He is well and healthy now. Now when I remember the situation of his heath when he was sick I feel like I have come out of a nightmare. He has started coughing again. I have a bad feeling that he is going to be sick again. But we have nothing to do. The weather is too hot during day and so cold at night in the camps nowadays. It is making the children sick. Also we have to sleep on the floor which is cold. This is our fate. We can do nothing for our children to keep them safe as parents. I want nothing but a safe and healthy life for my children. We have got nothing but only struggle in our life. I don’t want my children to have the same. I want a safe and healthy future for them to live with no fear. I suggest to the other mothers to go there if they have similar problems. As a mother I know how I felt when my son got better fully by their treatment and I want the others to have that feeling as well. There is nothing special like getting back your child from almost death” Rafiq* (father) in his own words: “the hospital is a trusted place. I never leave my wife alone in any hospital here. But I left her at the hospital with my little son on that night. Because I have the trust in the people who work there that they will take care of my wife and son and also I left my other two children alone at home. I have heard that they take care of patients the way family members would do. And I got it proven by my son getting fully better. Now my wife and I suggest the others to take the chance of having benefits from PHCC” Doctor Abdullah All Mamun, Medical Officer, PHCC (hospital) “the child came here with fever, cough and shortness of breathing for days and vomiting on and off. After examination we found chest finding, bilateral palpitation over the chest and chest end rowing was also present and the child had feeding apathy (could not eat). So we diagnosed the case as very serious pneumonia due to the symptom and started the treatment immediately. If we could not start the treatment immediately the condition of the child could be worse. Not having food is a very dangerous sign for a pneumonia patient. We had to give him nebulization every half an hour for the first day and after that we did the routine nebulization which is after every six hours. The condition of the child was so serious when they came here. We started supportive management like nebulization as soon as possible. Then when he became a little bit normal we examined him and gave him preventive care which will give prevention against the organism, which makes him sick by pneumonia. Such as providing medicine. We gave him antibiotics and the other medications. The child was responding positively after medication. When we saw the improvement and the child is danger free we discharged them with advices and further medication.” The situation in the camp is very hot during the day and cold at night. Also the season is changing. And the camp is very congested. So when they cook the smoke stays inside the house which goes inside the body through breathing. And although a lot of hygiene promotion is going on the hygiene condition is not very satisfying. And all of these are causing disease like pneumonia.” Allison Joyce / Save the Children

Five things you didn’t know about Rohingya children in Asia

Blog by Olof Blomqvist

Regional Humanitarian Policy and Advocacy Manager, Save the Children International Asia office

In 2017, the world watched in horror as hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people fled from Myanmar into Bangladesh to escape violence.

In 2017, the world watched in horror as hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people fled from Myanmar into Bangladesh to escape violence. But this was actually just the latest chapter in a long story of abuse - Rohingya have left Myanmar for decades to escape discrimination and persecution.

We stand side by side with children in the world's toughest places.

Across Asia, several countries host Rohingya communities – some large, some small; some have been there for generations, while others have only just arrived. What they all have in common is that they live lives on the margins, at constant risk of arrest, abuse or exploitation.

Today, Save the Children is releasing a new report highlighting the plight of Rohingya children in five countries: Myanmar, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

Here are five things this report will tell you about Rohingya children:

There are close to 700,000 Rohingya children in Asia, but the majority now live outside of their home country, Myanmar.

Bangladesh hosts the largest group of Rohingya children (451,000), most of whom fled violence in Rakhine State in 2017. In Myanmar, there are an estimated 243,000 Rohingya children living in communities and camps in Rakhine State. Malaysia is home to some 100,000 Rohingya refugees, an estimated quarter of whom are children. Thailand (3,000-15,000) and Indonesia (several hundred) host the smallest Rohingya populations of the five countries we looked at, with no exact numbers on how many children live there.

 

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Daphnee Cook / Save the children

A whole generation of Rohingya children is essentially growing up without access to quality education.

In Myanmar, segregation and widespread restrictions on freedom of movement contribute to blocking boys and girls from all levels of schooling. Those who have fled the country face different challenges. In Bangladesh and Malaysia, Rohingya refugees are officially prohibited from accessing formal education, meaning they rely on NGOs, UN agencies or community schools to provide informal teaching. Thailand and Indonesia have more progressive policies that include children on the move in national education systems, but implementation can be patchy and Rohingya boys and girls continue to fall through the net.

This is all the more tragic since Rohingya communities overwhelmingly tell us that education for their children is one of the things they value the most. One 15-year-old boy who fled from Myanmar to Cox's Bazar in 2017 spoke about his desire to learn: "We want a peaceful future. Once I am educated, I will fight for peace. If we get education, I think our future will be bright."

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Rajan Zaveri / Save the Children

While the root causes of the crisis lie in Myanmar, Rohingya refugee children face many of the same challenges when they arrive in other countries.

They live without citizenship or legal status, and struggle to access healthcare and education.  Many Rohingya boys and girls are even afraid to leave their homes in case they are detained and deported as “illegal immigrants”. In Malaysia, for example, one 16-year-old boy told us: “I can’t go along with [with my friends] even if they call me to play because I don’t have documents here. I am afraid of police and of being arrested.”

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Dominic Nahr / Save The Children

Some Rohingya are so desperate that they risk their lives on dangerous sea journeys to build a better life for themselves elsewhere.

These journeys are made on rickety and overcrowded boats where Rohingya are at risk of abuse by traffickers and struggle to get enough food and water. One 11-year-old girl, whose boat arrived in Aceh, Indonesia in September 2020, told us about her harrowing journey: “I was so tired when I arrived, I could hardly think. We were at sea for months. The boat was so small. There was barely any food and when I wanted to drink there was not enough water. My body itched because I couldn’t take a shower.”

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Tamara Amalia

These sea journeys were much more common before 2015, when a regional crackdown on trafficking networks triggered the so-called “Asian boat crisis”. Worryingly, however, maritime migration picked up pace again last year, when at least 2,400 Rohingya people took to boats. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, estimated that at least 200 people died at sea in 2020, while more than one-third (36%) of the survivors were children. Such journeys have continued in 2021: as recently as early June, one boat with more than 80 refugees was rescued by fisher folk in Indonesia, having been adrift on the ocean for several months.

The world can – and must – do more to help Rohingya children. We are calling on governments everywhere – in Asia and beyond – to push Myanmar to end the root causes of the abuse against Rohingya. One key place to start is to support international justice processes – those who committed atrocities against Rohingya boys, girls and their families must be held to account.

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