New drone footage shows scale of humanitarian crisis unfolding in Bangladesh

New drone footage released today by the Disasters Emergency Committee reveals the scale of the humanitarian crisis facing hundreds of thousands of people, mainly Rohingya women and children, who have fled violence in Myanmar and crossed into neighbouring Bangladesh.  
 
The footage, shot over the past week in the Balukhali area of Bangladesh, shows a huge sprawling makeshift city of informal settlements that stretches for miles.  Since the end of August, 515,000 people fleeing Myanmar have arrived in Bangladesh – the region’s largest mass movement of people in decades. With most currently living rough in appalling conditions, the government of Bangladesh has said it plans to build a new camp that will house more than 800,000 people, which is likely to be the largest settlement for displaced people in the world. 
 
DEC charities will be working with authorities in the camp and are currently on the ground helping meet the immediate needs of people for food, shelter and medical care. 
 
DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed said: “It’s hard to imagine the sheer scale of the numbers involved: half a million lives have been violently uprooted in just a matter of weeks. 
 
“Our member agencies are supporting the Bangladesh authorities and humanitarian partners to ensure that new camps meet humanitarian standards, for instance, by having rain-resistant shelters, water systems and washing units. 
 
“We urgently need more funds to provide even more emergency relief and protection to women, children and men who have nothing except the clothes on their backs. We hope the British public will continue to rise to the occasion and lend their generous support to this appeal.” 
 
DEC member charities are already responding in Bangladesh, providing temporary shelter, emergency healthcare, food, clean drinking water and sanitation services, such as latrines and hygiene kits.  
 
The UK Government will match pound for pound the first £3 million donated by the public to the DEC Emergency Appeal.  
 
To make a donation to the DEC Emergency Appeal visit www.dec.org.uk, call the 24-hour hotline on 0370 60 60 610, donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office, or send a cheque. You can also donate £5 by texting the word SUPPORT to 70000.