Since 2019 MOAS has been addressing the drowning risk for Rohingya refugees and the host community in Cox’s Bazar, providing water safety training and investigating drowning fatalities among children
“I will never forget the horrible moment my son’s best friend ran to tell me my child had disappeared into the pond when they were playing football. I rushed to the water. People were asking me why I was crying. Twenty or thirty people tried to rescue him, but by the time they got him out he was unconscious. We took him to an NGO hospital where they tried to revive him, but after 25 minutes they told me he was dead. He was 11 years old.” (Kamal, 53)
Bangladesh, 23th July 2021. World Drowning Prevention Day, created in April 2021 by General Assembly resolution A/RES/75/273, is celebrated annually on 25 July. This global advocacy event serves as an opportunity to highlight the tragic and profound impact of drowning on families and communities, and to offer life-saving solutions to prevent it.
MOAS, an INGO which specialises in providing front-line support to those displaced by crises around the globe, has been providing its expertise and technical advice for the prevention of the risk of drowning. This is being done through Flood and Water Safety training for the Rohingya refugees and the host community in Cox’s Bazar since 2019.
The courses train Rohingya and local community volunteers to act as first responders in the event of a water-related emergency. Participants are also taught methods to manage the after-effects of flooding and save lives, as well as how to operate safely within flooded environments and perform rescues using ‘throw bags’ to pull people in distress from the water. Selected volunteers are also chosen for ‘trainer training’ and receive additional instruction allowing them to deliver the course to further groups of volunteers in their areas, ensuring that skill development and retention continues within the community. In addition, integrating trainers from the Rohingya community also ensures cultural and linguistic understanding within the wider outreach project.
Since the scheme was established in 2019, over 3000 safety volunteers, including many women, have been trained, and lifesaving results have been achieved.
MOAS Report on Children Drowning in Rohingya Refugee Camps
A Rohingya refugee child dies by drowning almost every month in Bangladesh’s over-crowded camps, according to new findings by MOAS. Research “Investigating fatal childhood drowning incidents in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps 2021” found that at least 20 children have lost their lives in drowning accidents in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar over the past two years (2019-2020).
The findings revealed that most drowning fatalities in the camps are associated with males, the rainy monsoon season, daylight hours, inadequate supervision, and occur in ponds. Fatal drowning incidents among children under 5 usually occurred as they fell into nearby water whilst caregivers were occupied with household duties. The ages of the victims ranged from 2 to 17 years old. Fourteen (70%) of the victims were male and six (30%) were female. Six (30%) fatalities recorded were children under 5 and fourteen (70%) fatalities recorded were school age children (between 5 and 17 years old). Twelve (60%) of these fatalities occurred in ponds, three (15%) in canals, two (10%) in a deep man-made hole that had accumulated rain, and one (5%) each in a lake, reservoir and water bucket.
For school age children, fatal drowning incidents commonly occurred whilst playing or bathing in a water body without adult supervision and engaging in risky behaviours, primarily on breaks from or days without school or madrasa.
Regina Catrambone, MOAS co-founder and director, stated: “Drowning remains a persistent threat to the Rohingya and local Bangladeshis. It is a risk for children playing in open water sources in the camps, and for those working in the local fishing industry. Monsoon and cyclone related flooding also pose drowning dangers. safety training is only part of the solution. We want also wants to promote greater awareness of the risk of drowning among Rohingya children through this research.
In highlighting the newly established World Drowning Prevention Day, the World Health Organisation calls for stakeholders including governments, INGOs, charities and civil society groups to work together to mitigate against drowning risks.
I am exceptionally proud of our partners, my colleagues in MOAS, and the volunteers we support in engaging in such activities and advocating for further action.”.
Full report here: https://www.moas.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/moas-investigating-fatal-childhood-drowning-incidents-2021.pdf
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About MOAS
MOAS is an international humanitarian organization founded by the Catrambone family in 2013 and dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance and services to the most vulnerable communities around the world. Since its inception, MOAS has reached hundreds of thousands of people through its activities. After several Search and Rescue missions in the Mediterranean Aegean and Andaman seas, MOAS expanded its operations to Bangladesh, to assist Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar and the local host community. Today MOAS is currently also involved in several missions in Yemen and Somalia assisting the most vulnerable communities by delivering nutritional and medical aid. MOAS also operate in Malta with various projects to assist migrant communities. With the #SafeAndLegalRoutes campaign, MOAS is advocating to governments and international institutions to fight exploitative and dangerous migration routes and human trafficking by increasing safe and legal pathways of migration that exist on paper but are not sufficiently supported practice to allow the most vulnerable people to safely reach the countries of destination. MOAS has consultative status of Ecosoc and is member of the Malta Refugee Council.
Info: www.moas.eu