Arakan News Agency | Exclusive
A tragic incident in the Rohingya refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar has once again highlighted the severe risks faced by children in the overcrowded settlements, after a two-year-old Rohingya child was killed in a vehicle accident involving a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) vehicle.
Local sources told Arakan News Agency that the child, Muhib Ullah, son of Mohammed Yasin from Camp 18, died from injuries sustained when he was struck by the vehicle inside Camp 8 West (8W). Preliminary information indicates that the child was on the way to a hospital to receive medical treatment at the time of the incident.
The death has shocked and deeply saddened the child’s family and the wider Rohingya community, amid already fragile humanitarian conditions in the camps, particularly for children.
Cox’s Bazar camps are among the most densely populated areas in the world, characterized by narrow roads, heavy movement of humanitarian vehicles, and large numbers of children. These conditions mean that even minor lapses in safety can result in fatal accidents.
Children in the camps face heightened risks due to the lack of safe spaces, poor traffic management, and the absence of designated child-protection zones, especially near health facilities and main pathways.
Community activists said the incident underscores the urgent need to strengthen safety measures, including enforcing strict speed limits for vehicles, improving road management, establishing child-safe zones, and increasing safety awareness among humanitarian workers operating in the camps.
They also stressed the importance of a transparent and independent investigation into the circumstances of the incident to ensure accountability and to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Rohingya community leaders have called on relevant authorities and humanitarian organizations to prioritize child protection as a core responsibility in all camp operations, warning that negligence in this area can lead to irreversible losses.
More than one million Rohingya refugees have been living in the camps of Cox’s Bazar since fleeing Myanmar in 2017. Children make up a large proportion of the population, many of whom continue to live in conditions that fall short of basic safety and protection standards.
