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AFP
COX'S BAZAR
BANGLADESH said on Thursday it had treated more than 2,350 Rohingya refugees for serious injuries sustained during ethnic violence in Myanmar, including bullet and machete wounds and trauma from landmines.
About 422,000 refugees from the stateless Muslim minority have fled Myanmar's westernmost Rakhine State since August 25, overwhelming camps along the border ill-prepared for an influx of desperate civilians.
Aid efforts are being stepped up, with a Boeing jumbo jet laden with 100 tonnes of supplies leaving Saudi Arabia for Bangladesh and the US announcing another $32 million in assistance.
"The UNHCR has assured food, healthcare services and shelter facilities for the Rohingya refugees, and the WFP (World Food Programme) assured food for 400,000 Rohingya over the next four months,"Bangladesh's relief and disaster management minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya said Thursday.
Local authorities and aid agencies in Cox's Bazar district have been struggling to provide food, shelter and medical treatment for the Rohingya, who recounted tales of torture and rape by Myanmar troops and Buddhist militias as they escaped.
Bangladesh authorities said nearly 14,000 refugees had been treated in hospital and mobile medical clinics for illness and injury, including 2,364 people for wounds consistent with violence.
"These include injuries from bullets, mines or sharp weapons such as knives,"Enayet Hussain, a senior health department official, told AFP.
