Bangladesh faces long haul Rohingya crises

Cox's Bazar : One month after the latest influx of Rohingya Muslims began, Bangladesh faces the unenviable dual task of looking after 700,000 wretched people and trying to persuade Myanmar to take them back.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has earned praise for opening up the frontier to the desperate stream of humanity, but, diplomats and experts say, she cannot expect much international help in either campaign.

And, they warn, Bangladesh's warm welcome so far could easily cool if solutions are not found.

"Bangladesh can't deal with this crisis alone," said Champa Patel, head of the Asia Programme at the Chatham House international affairs institute in London.

"It is densely populated, poor and already home to a historically displaced Rohingya community. While currently welcoming, this could change if the situation becomes protracted without any clear end in sight."

About 430,000 people -- mainly Muslims -- have trudged into Bangladesh since August 25 when attacks by Rohingya militants in Rakhine state unleashed a blitz by the Buddhist-majority Myanmar's military.

The influx adds to about 300,000 Rohingya already in camps around the Bangladesh town of Cox's Bazar. 

There is not enough food, water or medicine to go around. Roads around the camps are littered with human excrement, exacerbating UN fears that serious disease could quickly break out.

The country has reacted with compassion to the horrific tales of rape and killing refugees have brought with them. Scores of trucks carrying aid donated by the public arrive each day in Cox's Bazar. But it is not enough.

At the UN General Assembly last week, Hasina sought global help to solve the problems of the Rohingya, left stateless by Myanmar's refusal to give them citizenship.

She called for the establishment of safe zones for the Rohingya. Myanmar has not responded.