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Rohingya Exodus - 6 months

Rohingya exodus - six months into the humanitarian crisis

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Nearly 700,000 Rohingya refugees have arrived in Cox's Bazar district in southeastern Bangladesh since late August 2017 after fleeing targeted violence in Rakhine state, Myanmar. The refugees – from a minority Muslim group denied citizenship and other rights in Myanmar – are living in crowded conditions in established settlements, makeshift settlements, and new camps set up by the authorities in an effort to cope with the humanitarian crisis. MSF has intensified its operations in the region in recent months.

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
Two Rohingya children in Hakimpara makeshift settlement, where more than 32,000 people are sheltering.
Anna Surinyach
Rohingya Exodus - 6 months
Iman Hussein, a 45-year-old Rohingya refugee, was a community leader and a farmer in a town with about 1,000 houses in the Maungdaw district of Rakhine state, Myanmar. He owned some cows, land, a shop, and a two-story home, but lost everything in the violence. He fled to Bangladesh with his family, standing with him inside their tent in Jamtoli makeshift settlement, Cox's Bazar. He now tries to keep himself busy by collecting wood and other activities.
Anna Surinyach
Rohingya Exodus - 6 months
Upon entry into Bangladesh, arrivals from Myanmar are given a medical check. Here, an MSF staff member examines a child at the Sabrang entry point.
Anna Surinyach
Rohingya Exodus - 6 months
Carla Pla, a Spanish nurse, is the medical referent at MSF’s inpatient department in Moynarghona. The facility was under construction in December 2017 when the sudden emergence of diphtheria cases among Rohingya refugees led MSF to convert it into a full-time Diphtheria Treatment Centre.
Anna Surinyach
Rohingya Exodus - 6 months
Kausara, a 13-year-old girl, is being cared for at MSF’s Diphtheria Treatment Centre in Moynarghona. She lives in Hakimpara makeshift settlement. “I had pain in my body, fever, throat ache… I was not able to eat anything. After taking the medicines, now I am feeling much better.”
Anna Surinyach
Rohingya Exodus - 6 months
Ismaeli, a 10-year-old boy, lies on a bed at MSF’s Diphtheria Treatment Centre in Moynarghona as medical staff administer the antitoxin  to treat diphtheria (DAT).
Anna Surinyach
Rohingya Exodus - 6 months
MSF’s Bangladeshi medical staff at the Diphtheria Treatment Centre in Moynarghona. Dr. Wasim Firuz (left) talks about the team’s progress in fighting diphtheria: “Every day, when we do the follow-up, when a patient says that he has no pain, no fever, we feel good because we think another step forward has been made to control the disease.”
Anna Surinyach
Rohingya Exodus - 6 months
MSF medical personnel assess the condition of patients at a primary healthcare centre in Hakimpara makeshift settlement. Every morning doctors make the rounds of their patients.
Anna Surinyach
Rohingya Exodus - 6 months
View of Jamtoli makeshift settlement, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Anna Surinyach
Rohingya Exodus - 6 months
María Blanco, a Spanish nurse, leads a contact tracing team moving around Jamtoli makeshift settlement. The teams have been set up by MSF to identify all the people who have been in contact with diphtheria patients after cases of the disease emerged in late 2017. All possible contacts are provided with prophylaxis to prevent the further spread of the airborne disease.
Anna Surinyach
Rohingya Exodus - 6 months
Patients wait for a consultation at MSF's primary health centre in Jamtoli, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, January 2018
Anna Surinyach