Rohingya Refugee Relief Fund

Monsoon season is fast approaching, and in the area around Cox’s Bazaar on the southern tip of Bangladesh, where the nearly 700,000 Rohingya refugees have fled from Myanmar and are living in makeshift camps, there is an enormous risk of flooding and landslides.

The Rohingya “mega-camp,” now the largest refugee camp in the world, is particularly vulnerable to these natural hazards, given it was rapidly constructed, mostly of bamboo and tarpaulin, on steep hillsides that were deforested quickly to accommodate the massive influx of refugees. Reports estimate that up to 200,000 Rohingya are at risk from the projected impacts of the upcoming months of heavy rainfall.

In the face of this looming disaster and the immensity of the other challenges facing the Rohingya, our nonprofit partners continue to push forward with their critical work. GlobalGiving is supporting three new projects run by our partners:

• Friendship is training Rohingya households and Rohingya community leaders in erosion control techniques and providing soil-appropriate, fast-growing seeds and saplings.
• HOPE Foundation for Women & Children of Bangladesh is fully equipping a new operating room in the organization’s field hospital located in the camps, primarily serving Rohingya women.
• Internews is scaling up critical humanitarian information sharing services, feedback mechanisms and systems, and fact-checking services that are easily accessible to all who are living in the camps.

Thank you for your continued dedication to Rohingya refugees during this time of immense need. With more than 1,500 donors to the Rohingya Refugee Relief Fund, our nonprofit partners are able to continue making a tangible impact in the lives of so many.

Warmly,
Chase Williams + the GlobalGiving Team

It has been nearly five months since the beginning of the mass exodus of Myanmar’s Rohingya population in the face of targeted violence and persecution. To date, more than 650,000 Rohingya have fled their homes and villages in the Rakhine State of western Myanmar to make the perilous journey across the border into Bangladesh in search of safety.

The vast majority of refugees now find themselves in makeshift camps and settlements in southeastern Bangladesh, largely in and around the city of Cox’s Bazar. Relief groups, including our partners, have now established a foothold in many of these camps and settlements and are working extremely hard to meet basic needs.

The challenges facing Rohingya refugees are enormous. More than half of all refugees are women and children dealing with specific types of trauma, including having seen family members killed and/or victimized by sexual and gender-based violence. Families and unaccompanied minors remain in a state of constant uncertainty as Bangladesh and Myanmar discuss plans for repatriation—which could take more than 10 years. There are also new risks, like the threat of human trafficking from those who would further exploit the vulnerability of the Rohingya.

Your donations continue to support the relief efforts of our vetted nonprofit partners who are working hand in hand with Rohingya refugees to meet basic needs, provide critical information, and set up learning centers for children. Your support has helped to fund:

• HOPE Foundation for Women & Children of Bangladesh: Purchasing and converting a full-sized van into a fully-equipped ambulance and emergency evacuation vehicle to transport Rohingya patients with especially critical injuries and illnesses to HOPE Foundation’s nearby operating hospital.
• OBAT Helpers: Building and running eight learning centers for Rohingya children and providing training for local Rohingya teachers.
• Internews: Identifying and training a team of bilingual Community Correspondents from the local and Rohingya-speaking communities to produce and share high-quality communication materials and critical humanitarian information in the Rohingya language.
• ActionAid International: Providing critical supplies and services to Rohingya women and girls in need, including menstrual hygiene kits and the creation of safe spaces for women to receive psychological and trauma counseling.
• World Concern: Providing emergency hygiene and sanitation kits to families, as well as supporting the fortification of shelters within camps.

For a first-hand perspective on relief efforts in Cox’s Bazar, be sure to read our in-depth profile of Dr. Iftikher Mahmood, a Bangladeshi-American pediatrician who founded HOPE Foundation for Women & Children of Bangladesh in 1999 to meet the maternal healthcare needs of his home community and is now caring for injured Rohingya refugees.

We will continue to share stories of progress with you in the coming months. From all of us at GlobalGiving, thank you for your generosity, your compassion, and your commitment to standing with the Rohingya people.

Warmly,
Chase Williams + the GlobalGiving Team