12 January 2018•Update: 12 January 2018
By Gulsum Incekaya, Merve Aydogan
ISTANBUL
An Istanbul-based aid agency is providing medical care to stateless Rohingya refugees who are living in a camp in Bangladesh.
Alliance of International Doctors (AID) has established two outpatient rooms, an emergency and operation theater, a maternity ward and a pharmacy.
AID head Dr. Mevlit Yurtseven told Anadolu Agency that they first provide medical screening to the refugees and then the necessary medication.
Yurtseven also said the doctors pay visits to the refugees and educate them about health and sanitation.
"Hundreds of people are being treated everyday at our healthcare center. Through charity from people, thousands of outpatient clinics have been established and medicines provided," he added.
He said they needed further support for food, medicine, medical equipments, sanitary products, baby formulas, clothing and tarp.
Donations can be made at www.aidoctors.org.
Project Coordinator Merve Ay said facilities at the camp are inadequate and more needs to be done for pregnant women.
Dr. Kubra Nur Kaya, a volunteer for the project, spent her annual leave at the camp in Bangladesh and expressed her happiness at being part of the project.
The project is being conducted jointly by Turkish Diabetic Association and Allama Fazlullah Foundation.
The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.
Since 25 Aug. 2017, some 650,000 refugees, mostly children and women, fled Myanmar when Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to the UN.
At least 9,000 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine state from Aug. 25 to Sept. 24, according to Doctors Without Borders.
In a report published on Dec. 12, the global humanitarian organization said that the deaths of 71.7 percent or 6,700 Rohingya were caused by violence. They include 730 children below the age of 5.
The UN has documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.
