Rohingya refugee crisis: “I want to be educated and become a doctor”

Doctors of the World/Médecins du Monde is responding to COVID-19 in the sprawling refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, southeastern Bangladesh, which are home to about one million Rohingya refugees. Our teams work with Rohingya volunteers and our local partner PULSE Bangladesh to improve healthcare in the camps and raise awareness about COVID-19 so that residents can protect themselves. Tasmin (not her real name) is a young Rohingya woman who has volunteered as a youth educator. She shared her story with us, just prior to COVID-19’s arrival in Cox’s Bazar. “We Rohingya are a minority ethnic group who have lived in Rakhine State, Myanmar, for many years. The Myanmar government has been denying our rights and persecuting us. Following the massive armed conflict that took place on 25 August 2017, I evacuated to Bangladesh to seek asylum. It’s been three years since then. People live in harsh conditions and in an overcrowded camp. Residents at a water collection point in one of the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps, which are home to about one million Rohingya refugees. Photo courtesy of MdM Japan. I came to Bangladesh with six family members, we are from a village located in Buthidaung Township in Myanmar. The seven of us live cramped in a tiny hut that doesn’t even have a sleeping area. My day begins with getting up at 5 am and exercising for 20 minutes. After that, we do the first prayer of the day (salat, a ritual Muslim prayer) then I a...
Source: Doctors of the World News - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Uncategorised COVID-19 health promotion refugee camp refugees Rohingya Rohingya refugee crisis testimony Source Type: news