Priyanka Chopra calls for better care of Rohingya kids

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Priyanka Chopra calls for better care of Rohingya kids

Dhaka - Chopra visited camps in Cox's Bazar bordering Myanmar and passed time with the desperate children at safe homes.

By AP

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Published: Fri 25 May 2018, 10:35 PM

Last updated: Sat 26 May 2018, 12:39 AM

Priyanka Chopra, actress and a goodwill ambassador of the United Nations' children's agency, said on Thursday the world should be more compassionate to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya children who desperately need help in Bangladeshi camps where they've been sheltered.
Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar's Rakhine state since late August to escape military-led violence and are now seeking UN protection to return home. Almost 60 per cent of the total refugees are children, and 60 babies are being born every day in camps in Bangladesh.
Chopra visited camps in Cox's Bazar bordering Myanmar and passed time with the desperate children at safe homes, makeshift schools and helped them draw pictures of sunshine and hope.
On Thursday, during a press conference and a subsequent interview, she refused to answer any questions beyond children's welfare in the camps and beyond. She recognised the Rohingya refugee crisis is a "political crisis" but would not talk beyond her mandate as a goodwill ambassador of Unicef.
"I'm here on behalf of children. I'm too small, I feel, to speak about political situation like this. I'm not someone who believes in a blame game. I think that creates more hatreds and animosities," she said.
Chopra said she was overwhelmed to see the condition of the children in the camps she visited. "Open your heart to the children," Chopra urged the world community. "Be compassionate for the sake of the humanity," she said.
During her visit to the camps Chopra saw children being screened for malnutrition, a statement by Unicef said. She said the international community was working to support the children, but that is not enough.


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