The Korean Seon (Zen) master and engaged Buddhist Venerable Pomnyun Sunim, founder and chairman of the international relief organization Join Together Society (JTS), led a team of volunteers to Bangladesh on 2 December to deliver 6.36 million bars of soap to a refugee camp that is home to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled persecution and violence in neighboring Myanmar.
This latest donation follows the earlier success of the JTS relief project, when, in September 2022 and January 2019, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim led aid representatives to deliver consignments of gas stoves for refugees in Cox’s Bazar, a district of Bangladesh’s Chittagong Division.*
After arriving in Bangladesh, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim headed for a meeting at the UNHCR’s Cox’s Bazar office, to receive a breakdown of the present situation at the refugee camp: “About a million Rohingya refugees are living in Cox’s Bazar. Of these, 97 per cent reside in the Cox’s Bazar camp, while the remaining 3 per cent live on Bhasan Char Island. The main reason for moving to Bhasan Char Island is the safer security environment,” the UNHCR’s senior operations coordinator explained.
“Over the past two years, the security situation in the camp has significantly deteriorated. Conflicts between various criminal organizations within the camp have doubled the crime rate, severely compromising security.
“Due to budget cuts by the World Food Programme, the monthly food support per person decreased from US$12 to US$8 last year. Although the support amount recovered to US$12.50 at the beginning of this year, the reduction had a serious impact on the nutritional status in the camp. For example, the malnutrition rate in 2023 was 15.1 per cent, exceeding the threshold of 15 per cent.
“Most of the housing in the camp consists of temporary structures made of bamboo and tarpaulin. The Bangladesh government maintains a policy that all refugees must return to Myanmar, so it does not allow long-term and durable housing improvement measures.” (Jungto Society)
▶️ Published by BDG on December 9, 2024
