Shaju* (pictured) is 30 years old and has eight children, the youngest of whom is only six months old. When violence broke out in her village in Myanmar, she and her extended family took to the road. She recalled the chaos: “My brother-in-law was ahead of us when they caught him. He was brutally killed.” It took three days to reach a temporary settlement at Hakim Para, across the border in Bangladesh. They had little to eat, except what people shared with them along the way.
The trauma of what happened to Shaju has had a deep impact. “I have nothing to go back to. Everything has been burned,” she said.
Hakim Para is now home to thousands of families with similar experiences. Water and sanitation facilities are under pressure and malnutrition levels are worryingly high especially as more than a fifth of all refugees are under five years old and are extremely vulnerable.
Humanitarian aid agency Concern Worldwide has set up nutrition camps in Bangladesh to help treat those suffering from severe malnutrition but we need your support. Please call 0800 032 4001 or visit concern.org.uk to send an urgent gift today.
*Name changed
> Photo Credits: Kieran McConville/2017/Bangladesh
Concern Worldwide
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