Emergency Contingency Planning for the Rohingya

A month or so ago I was involved in emergency contingency planning.

This means that Medair was doing planning for the eventuality of an emergency like a cyclone (we call them hurricanes in the US - one of the most likely emergencies that we face here in Bangladesh). The focus was both on what we need to do in order for Medair staff to be safe and secure as well as what we need to do for our staff so that they have the ability to respond to the needs of the Rohingya in such a situation.

Our contingency plan says this about the situation that the Rohingya face in the case of

Erosion in the camps (photo by T Berger)

massive monsoon or a cyclone: “Experts  have evaluated  the  current  landscape  in  which  the  refugees  are  residing  and  have  noted  critical  concerns  for  at least  102,000  people  who  are  living  with a risk  of  flooding  or  landslides. 32%  percent  of  these  households included are  considered vulnerable  with female-headed  households,  elderly  or  disabled. In addition, it  is anticipated that lifesaving services such as health facilities and water points will also be flooded, leaving the population  on islands,  isolated without access  to services.  Widespread flooding will  cause  latrines  to overflow and further infect already contaminated water points. Use of untreated surface water could quickly result in outbreaks of water borne diseases such as cholera or hepatitis A or E. In addition, landslides on small and  large  scales  are  anticipated  leaving  small  groups  of  households  to  large  blocks  of  100-200  households suddenly without shelter and also needing immediate support for search and rescue, triage for injuries, and psychosocial support.”

That paragraph gives you an idea of what the refugees could be facing in an emergency. We have talked before about the risk of landslides. And though officials continue to move the most vulnerable to better sites (refugees do this spontaneously to some degree as well), this remains a risk for the refugees and the host communities.

Photo by Tamara Berger

Cholera is everyone’s worst nightmare in this situation. Given the population density that I mentioned in an earlier blog post, the conditions are perfect for massive morbidity and mortality from a cholera outbreak.

So the Health Project Manager prepared her Mobile Medical Teams to be ready to go into the camps with lifesaving measures immediately after such an event. Christine also has a Mobile Nutrition Team that has been trained in emergency nutrition and is currently working at practical simulations with nutrition clinics in order to be able to respond to the most vulnerable after such an emergency.

I assisted the Health Project Manager in getting foodstuffs, water and other essentials out to a house that we rent just outside the camps. I organized with the vendor from whom we rent vehicles to make sure that we could have two of his vehicles stay 24 hours/day at this house in case of an impending emergency. And we generally prepared to run emergency services from that house.

A Rohingya Woman (photo by T Berger)

The normal monsoon season in Bangladesh runs from June to  August  with  cyclone  seasons  on  either  side  in  May  and  September.  Average  rainfall  is  between  400-600 mm  a  month (15-25 inches)  with  single  days  reaching  200mm  in  the  past.

Thankfully, we seem to have missed the cyclones here in Bangladesh this season! We are thankful.

I have some specific prayer concerns to ask you to pray for:

1.    1. Christine has a particularly difficult World Food Programme report due in the next couple of days. Please pray for patience and wisdom in knowing how to best do this.

2.    2. I have moved into the Logs Manager position as our manager is leaving in mid-December. Pray for my preparedness and capacity building over the next two weeks, for wisdom as I take over this role, and for our logistics team to continue to pull together!
3. Continue to pray for a future with hope for the Rohingya!

Thank you for journeying with us.

Phil