The Refugees Who Fled a Massacre

The Rohingya are a group of people who have lived for centuries in Myanmar. Due to their ethnicity, they are denied citizenship and are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Violence and oppression has forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee to countries neighbouring Myanmar, either by land or sea, over the course of many decades. But in August 2017, a brutal campaign of violence by the Myanmar government killed more than 6,500 Rohingya, including at least 430 children under five years old. More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh joining more than 200,000 who have been living in the squalid camps, some for many years.

In this episode, we hear from three MSF staff who have been working in the Rohingya megacamp in the Cox’s Bazar area of southeast Bangladesh over the past year. Nurse Chrissie McVeigh describes her experience running a campaign to vaccinate more than 350,000 Rohingya children against diphtheria. Water and sanitation specialist Ryan Bellingham describes his work as part of MSF’s emergency team setting up clean water sources in the complex camp. And nurse Sunny La Valle describes her first assignment with MSF running health posts to provide much needed care for the Rohingya. If you would like to help our work providing vital medical care for the Rohingya, please consider giving to our Rohingya appeal: msf.me/2rnffXT

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