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Rohingya Refugee Children Missing Out on Education and Viable Future

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - A study by the [1]U.N. Children's Fund finds more than half a
   million Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar are not
   learning the life skills they need to prepare them for the future or to
   protect them from present-day abuse and exploitation.

   Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya children have been languishing in
   squalid, overcrowded refugee camps in Cox's Bazar for two years-- ever
   since a mass exodus of 745,000 refugees fleeing persecution and
   violence in Myanmar began.

   The U.N. Children's Fund reports more than a quarter million children
   up to age 14 are receiving a non-formal education, while more than
   25,000 others are receiving none.

   Author of the UNICEF report, Simon Ingram, said adolescents are most
   disadvantaged.

   He said 97 percent of children aged 15 to 18 years are not attending
   any type of educational facility, putting them at particular risk.

   "When you meet teenagers in the camps, they speak readily of the
   dangers they face, especially at night, when drug dealers operate, and
   gang fights are reported to be a regular occurrence," he said. "Cases
   of trafficking are also being reported, although they are hard to
   quantify. The camps can be especially hazardous for girls and women."

   UNICEF and partners have provided learning to more than 190,000
   Rohingya children in more than 2,000 centers. These agencies are
   calling on the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh to allow the use
   of their national educational resources to provide more structured
   learning for Rohingya children.

References

   1. https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/rohingya-beyond-survival-alert

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