Somewhere in camp...

Rohingya people are struggling to find a way to

tackle the crisis with their daily water needs.
Reported by Hujjat Ullah

Photo credit: Yasin Afsar

To begin, we all use water to drink, wash, clean, prepare, and grow food, making it our most
valuable survival resource.

Over 730,000 Rohingya Muslims, according to Human Rights Watch, had fled Rakhine state
in August 2017 following a military crackdown and took shelter in different areas along
Ukhiya Cox's Bazaar and Teknaf district. Different NGOs and INGOs are working to make
their lives normal by fulfilling their daily needs including food, water and healthcare services.
But, still people in some camps are in crisis with water and few ponds, streams and digging
canals are hardly fulfilling their necessities.

"Despite knowing the fact that we can get different kinds of diseases by drinking water from
ponds and canals, we have no other option left for our survival," said an old man.
Photo credit: Yasin Afsar

2
In general, most Rohingya people get water from tube wells that NGOs have provided in
most of the camps and supply by building block wise tap systems. The above photos are
taken in camp 20, Balukhali 2, Sub-block - S1B14 and Sub B - A1, Camp 27, Jadimura. The
Rohingya inhabitants in these blocks are far away from the water resources that are provided
by NGOs. As a result, these people are having a huge water crisis. Now, they have nothing
but to rely on these canals, ponds, and streams for drinking and other purposes. The group of
Rohingya people said that their lives become extremely difficult during summer period as
their need for daily use water increases and the level of water in ponds and wells decreases
contrarily in that period.

To conclude, as water is directly related to our survival, the Rohingya in these crisis zones are
requesting for support to manage a way to tackle their crisis.