World needs to care for Rohingya refugees: Priyanka Chopra

Dhaka : Actress Priyanka Chopra, who is also the global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights, on Tuesday urged her fans and followers to care for and support the Rohingya refugees. Priyanka, who is on a field visit in Dhaka, on Monday visited Cox's Bazaar, one of the largest refugee camps in the world, and shared photographs with Rohingya children on Instagram. "In the second half of 2017, the world saw horrific images of ethnic cleansing from the Rakhine State of Myanmar (Burma). This violence drove nearly 700,000 Rohingya across the border into Bangladesh - 60 per cent are children! Many months later they are still highly vulnerable, living in overcrowded camps with no idea when or where they will ever belong...even worse, when they will get their next meal," Priyanka wrote.

I’m in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh today for a field visit with UNICEF, to one of the largest refugee camps in the world. In the second half of 2017, the world saw horrific images of ethnic cleansing from the Rakhine State of Myanmar(Burma). This violence drove nearly 700,000 Rohingya across the border into Bangladesh - 60% are children! Many months later they are still highly vulnerable, living in overcrowded camps with no idea when or where they will ever belong...even worse, when they will get their next meal. AND...as they finally start to settle and feel a sense of safety, monsoon season looms...threatening to destroy all that they’ve built so far. This is an entire generation of children that have no future in sight. Through their smiles I could see the vacancy in their eyes. These children are at the forefront of this humanitarian crisis, and they desperately need our help. The world needs to care. We need to care. These kids are our future. Pls Lend your support at www.supportunicef.org #ChildrenUprooted @unicef @unicefbangladesh Credit: @briansokol @hhhtravels

A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 21, 2018 at 6:27am PDT

When Mansur Ali, 12 yrs old, first came to the Child Friendly Space (CFS) at the Balukhali camp, he was only drawing scenes of bloodshed and violence. Helicopters shooting at him and his friends playing soccer... or his village and home being on fire with burning bodies all around him.. Today, his drawings reflect a more hopeful story, one we would like all these children to have. Since the #Rohingya children have arrived in Cox’s Bazar, they have been living in overcrowded camps with no real place that to call their own. Imagine a space that lets you forget your troubles and be a child again... even if its only for just a few hours a day. For the Rohingya children, over 300,000, in the camps in Bangladesh this is the only space that allows them to be kids. These Child Friendly Spaces created by @unicef give kids access to art, music, dance, sport, and counselling etc. The space has often proved to be very therapeutic, helping these kids deal with the horrific situations they faced.. the @unicef aid workers work tirelessly to make sure these children find their spirit again. It doesn’t matter where a child is from or what his or her circumstances are... NO child deserves a life without hope for the future. The world needs to care. We need to care. Please lend your support at www.supportunicef.org #childrenuprooted @unicef @unicefbangladesh

A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 22, 2018 at 6:54am PDT

"And as they finally start to settle and feel a sense of safety, monsoon season looms...threatening to destroy all that they have built so far. This is an entire generation of children that have no future in sight," she added. Priyanka, who had met Syrian refugee children in Jordan last year, says children are at the "forefront of this humanitarian crisis, and they desperately need our help". "The world needs to care. We need to care. These kids are our future," she wrote.