Tony Lloyd visits Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh

Tony Lloyd sees typical living conditions in a shelter in a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh

Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd flew out to Bangladesh last weekend (Friday 8 to Sunday 10 December) to see the Rohingya refugee camps with his own eyes, joining the Rochdale Council of Mosques in Cox’s Bazar.

Over 800,000 Rohingya Muslims are understood to have fled their homes in Myanmar (formerly Burma), with huge numbers crossing the border to Bangladesh, where refugee camps are full, and tens of thousands are trapped on hillsides without access to food, water or medicine.

Many Rohingya say that Burmese government security forces have torched their villages and killed civilians.

Horrified by the actions, Mr Lloyd joined representatives from the Rochdale Council of Mosques in Cox’s Bazar, who have flown out to help the refugees. In recent months, thousands of pounds have been raised locally after the Council of Mosques made an appeal for funds to help provide badly needed shelter, food and medicine.

Mr Lloyd said: “It is truly shocking what has been happening in Myanmar.

“Over 800,000 have had to flee their homes at gunpoint, sometimes leaving their loves ones behind, who have been killed by the Burmese army. They are now living in appalling, primitive conditions in the refugee camps without any clean drinking water, cooking over fires inside.”

“It is still a crisis, even though it has left the headlines. 36,000 children have arrived without their parents and 30,000 women are pregnant as a result of rape. These are both horrifying statistics. Lots of the children in Cox’s Bazar have witnessed terrible things that no child should have to see.”

He said the experience was a "real eye-opener", having met two survivors, a young girl called Janatara and Eman Ul Haque. Both were fortunate to survive after being shot in the leg when the Myanmar army attacked their villages. Janatara is well on her way to make a full recovery, but Eman has had his leg amputated and will now be dependent on others.

Mr Lloyd continued: “The people of Rochdale have been an important part of making the Rohingya’s camp conditions bearable, and life a little bit better for them. Safe spaces for children have been set up for them to play, with trained psychologists to help them. Access to a medical centre with doctors is being arranged through the Rochdale Council of Mosques. Model homes with solar lighting and waste disposal are being planned.”

Clean water will also be accessed through drilling of deep wells.

Mr Lloyd added: “I will do what I can to support people. Rochdale has really dug deep to make a difference to the lives of the Rohingya, and this is massively praiseworthy. We cannot turn our backs on them; we must do whatever we can to make everything that little bit more bearable for them.”

In 2013, the Rohingya minority group - who make up 1.1 million of the South East Asian country’s 53 million population, but who are not recognised as full citizens - was described by the United Nations as 'one of the most persecuted minorities in the world'.

The UN’s human rights chief said ‘elements of genocide’ could not be ruled out on 5 December. Previously, the upsurge in violence perpetrated by the Burmese army against the minority group had been likened as ‘ethnic cleansing’.