Escalation of violence on border area between Bangladesh and Myanmar
Since Feb. 4, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, has treated 27 people with gunshot or shrapnel wounds. Sixteen patients were critically injured, and one patient died upon arrival.
All the injuries from those 27 patients were related to renewed outbreaks of violence in the border areas between Myanmar and Bangladesh. The refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, home to nearly one million people who are from the Rohingya ethnic group, lie close to the conflict zone and shooting can be heard in the distance.
The degradation of the security context on the border is concerning, as it might not only directly affect communities on the border, but also worsen the mental health of camp residents in Bangladesh who fled past violence and have faced increasing violence within the camps in recent years. MSF remains committed to providing care to anyone who needs it, based on their medical needs. In recent days this has meant treating more people with violence-related injuries in addition to the usual medical issues we see linked to the living conditions and violence in the Rohingya refugee camps. MSF remains ready to scale up in case of further needs.
