Attachments
Introduction
Since 25 August 2017, Bangladesh has seen an unprecedented arrival of Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. To date more than 600,000 people have crossed the border, at a speed of displacement the world has not witnessed since the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
Those who have fled speak of seeing children targeted for brutal sexual violence, and killed and maimed indiscriminately. Countless people have experienced denial of humanitarian assistance. Others have told us of their children being abducted, or of living in fear of their children being taken away.
These appalling crimes amount to grave violations against children in conflict. They must stop and those carrying them out must be held to account.
Save the Children is helping children who have made the journey from Myanmar into Bangladesh to recover from their horrific experiences. Through our programmes we have spoken with children and their families who have experienced and witnessed crimes. We have asked them if we can share their stories in an effort to highlight how children have been, and continue to be, targeted by military operations inside Myanmar.
This collection of testimonies is the product of those interviews. It paints a disturbing picture of the horrors that children have been through.
Almost every child we’ve spoken to has witnessed a family member or someone from their community killed. Others tell of being caught up in atrocities, witnessing massacres or being taken away to be raped. They have seen and experienced things that no child should ever see, and many are deeply traumatised as a result.
Their testimonies corroborate violations documented by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The acts described are consistent, recurring and appalling.
With almost 60% of the refugee population under the age of 18 this is truly a children’s emergency, and this collection of testimonies gives a voice to these children. By recording these grave violations against children we send a clear message to those responsible that these atrocities will not be tolerated.
We must act now.
Warning: This report contains content relating to violence against children and adults, including sexual violence, that some readers may find distressing