An estimated 48,000 babies are expected to be born in squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled violence from Buddhist-majority Myanmar, a report says on Thursday.
The global charity, Save the Children, revealed that the new figure, showing that Rohingya families, who relied on food rations in overcrowded flimsy tents, were
expected to give birth to these babies in 2018.
Save the Children’s Health Adviser in Cox’s Bazar, Rachael Cummings, said “most of the children would be born without health facilities and would be at risk of getting sick, undernourishment and thus putting them under threat of dying before they reach five years of age.
“We’re expecting about 130 live births per day across 2018 in which most of the babies are likely be born at home in basic tents because of shortage of quality.
“However, there would be 24-hour health facilities to handle and manage basic emergency obstetrics.”
The UN estimated over 655,000 Rohingya Muslims crossed into Bangladesh after the Myanmar army launched crackdown on suspected Muslim insurgents, blamed for carrying out attacks on security posts in Rakhine state on Aug 25.
Cummings termed the possible disadvantages for the babies as “truly heartbreaking,” saying that they would battle the odds stacked against them.
The charity urged international community to scale up assistance for the expectant mothers and their babies who would be in dire need of medical care. (dpa/NAN)