Description of the disaster
Since 25 August 2017, 671,000 people, the majority of whom are women and children, have fled violence in Rakhine state, Myanmar and have crossed the border to seek shelter in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The newly displaced people is an addition to the 212,538 people who had already fled from Rakhine state, Myanmar to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh in successive displacement flows in the last few decades. In total, there are an estimated 884,000 people from Rakhine in Cox’s Bazar.
Most people from Rakhine are sheltering in makeshift shelters in camps and spontaneous settlements. The camps and settlements are situated in previously uninhabited areas (field or forest land) with no pre-existing infrastructure or services. Many of the displaced people are entirely dependent on humanitarian assistance for survival. The greatest and most urgent needs for the displaced people include access to shelter; clean water, sanitation and hygiene services; medical care; food and protection. The scale and speed of the displacement and the intense vulnerability of those displaced has created one of the most urgent, critical, challenging and complex humanitarian crises globally.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) organizes regular needs and population monitoring (NPM) site assessment. The most recent report, NPM Round 86 was published on 28 February 2018. The report highlighted that 52 per cent of the population are female. Children (people below 18 years old) accounts for 54.6 per cent of the population.
The situation and poor living conditions in the camp increases the risk for disease outbreaks. A diphtheria outbreak was announced in mid-December 2017. Key challenges associated with the response to the diphtheria outbreak include low vaccination coverage amongst the displaced population; limited treatment capacity; insufficient global supply of diphtheria anti-toxins, and necessary isolation, infection prevention and control procedures which require additional resources. A Diphtheria Task Force was established, led by the Bangladesh Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and WHO and a joint response was provided by different organizations including the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement.
On 11 October 2017, IFRC categorized the situation as crisis level ‘Red’ according to the IFRC Emergency Response Framework, indicating that the emergency is of a scale and complexity that demands an organisation-wide priority for the IFRC Secretariat at all levels.
BDRCS is leading the Population Movement Operation (PMO) with the support of IFRC, ICRC and partner national societies (PNSs). IFRC supported programmes are focused in Cox’s Bazar district.