Nearly a quarter of a million Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh are in an extremely vulnerable condition, global aid workers say.
Almost 60 percent of all new arrivals who have fled from Myanmar are children. Most of them are suffering from mental trauma and a large number of them have been separated from their parents and close relatives.
Many are at risk of malnutrition.
“I am not able to get any treatment for my child, that is why his condition is going from bad to worse every day,” one woman said.
Nearly half a million Rohingya muslims have fled violence in Myanmar since the end of August. The scale of the exodus – one of the worst refugee crises in decades – has overwhelmed aid agencies.
Jean-Jacque Simon, from Unicef said: “The faster we are in bringing new supplies, the faster we are in coordinating with our main partners, whether it is the government of Bangladesh or national NGOs, the better we will be able to bring services to the children who are in need.”
Human Rights Watch has accused Myanmar of committing crimes against humanity in Rakhine state.
The New York based organisation on Tuesday called for the United Nations to impose sanctions and an arms embargo on the Buddhist majority country.
Myanmar has said there is no evidence that its forces have committed such crimes. It has also rejected UN accusations of ethnic cleansing.