Tiny Mohammad Sohail cries uncontrollably as he waits to see a doctor — one of the thousands of Rohingya children at risk of an agonising death from malnutrition even after reaching the safety of refugee camps in Bangladesh.
His father was killed in the crackdown on Muslims in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar’s Rakhine state, forcing his mother Hasana Begum to flee with Mohammad and his
brother — joining some 6,10,000 other Rohingya who have fled since August.
The family barely ate on their seven-day trek across hills and through jungles to the Bangladesh border where they arrived two weeks ago, and it has taken its toll. Aged just 21 months, Mohammad’s ribs nearly poke through his skin. His hands are just skin and bone. There are at least 50 other malnourished children like him at the Balukhali camp medical unit.