ChickenPox outbreak in Rohingya camps
20,000 infected in 2 months
Bangladesh stops 30 Rohingyas trying to get to Malaysia
UNB, Cox's Bazar
Around 20,000 Rohingya people in the Ukhia and Teknaf camps have been infected in an outbreak of chicken pox, a quite common disease of childhood in Bangladesh. All of a sudden, chicken pox cropped in a few houses in Balukhali Camp, later it soon spread to 15 houses, creating panic among the camp dwellers, said Lalu Majhi of the camp. Lecturer of Coxs Bazar Medical College Hospital Dr Jahedul Mostafa said chicken pox is not as fatal as to kill patients. The infected can come round after taking a short medication and following some health tips. But panic still seizes the inhabitants.
Dr Abdul Matin, civil sergeant of Coxs bazar said the chicken pox was found spreading since December 22 last year, and around 20,000 people have been attacked since then. Urging people not to be anxious about its spread, he said doctors and health volunteers are working to give treatment to the patients and making people aware of the disease.
The spread of the disease will come in control within a month, he assured. AFP adds: Bangladesh security forces stopped 30 Rohingya refugees from being smuggled to Malaysia by boat, officials said yesterday, as fears rise that calmer seas may tempt those living in squalid camps to make the journey to Southeast Asia. Two suspected human traffickers were detained in the operation by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) forces in Coxs Bazar district late Thursday, the officials said.
About 740,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar for Bangladesh following a military clampdown in August 2017. They joined about 300,000 of the Muslim minority already in the country where they are largely confined to camps, which have strained Bangladeshs resources to the limit.
The 17 women, six children and seven men were detained on a beach near the coastal town of Teknaf, which borders Myanmars violence-wracked Rakine state, the BGB said.
It is the third time since November that Rohingya have been intercepted while attempting to reach the more prosperous and Muslim-majority Malaysia by boat. Some boats have also been intercepted trying to leave Myanmar. Lieutenant Colonel Asadud Zaman Chowdhury told AFP the 30 Rohingya were lured by human traffickers operating in refugee camps in Coxs Bazar.
He said the Rohingya, who had paid about $1,000 each for safe passage to Malaysia, would be sent back to the camps.
One of the women in the group said she was going to Malaysia to get married to a Rohingya man she had never met.
My uncle set me up for the journey and paid for the trip. My husband to be was meant to meet me once I reached Malaysia, she told AFP, refusing to give her name.
There are fears that with improving weather more Rohingya may be tempted by traffickers to leave the Bangladesh camps and make the dangerous boat journey to Malaysia.
People smugglers sent tens of thousands of Rohingya from the camps to Malaysia before Bangladesh launched a crackdown in 2015. This came after Thai authorities discovered mass graves of refugees and overcrowded boats were intercepted at sea.
The Bay of Bengal which the boats must cross on their way to Malaysia is calmer between November and March. But many of the small boats are critically overcrowded by the owners seeking to make more money.
