19. Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal
20. Refugees from Rakhine State, Myanmar in Bangladesh
21. Southern Iraq
The numbers of refugees in Asia grew from approximately 5.1 million in 1982 to 7.2 million in 1992. The single largest group of refugees comes from Afghanistan; in 1992 there were 4.1 million Afghans in Iran and 1.6 million in Pakistan, accounting for about 80% of the total refugee population of the region [UNHCR 1993]. In this section of the report, we will start by including available information on the relatively small populations of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal and refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh because of persistent reports of micronutrient deficiencies. As in the past, we will include information on Southern Iraqi refugees in Iran.
The number of assisted Bhutanese refugees in Nepal has remained stable at approximately 85,000 people. Food continues to be distributed regularly, and there are no reported problems with water availability [WFP 5/08/94].
In response to ongoing reports since the second half of 1993 of significant levels of micronutrient deficiencies in the camps (see RNIS #5) there was recently an assessment to confirm the presence and determine the severity of these conditions. The presence of beriberi and scurvy were confirmed during the assessment and it was agrees that the supply of fresh fruits and vegetables should continue to be pan of the ration as should a supply of micro-nutrient fortified blended foods. Further details on the mission will be available at a later date [WHO 8/07/94].
How could external agencies help? Donors should support any initiative to supply fortified blended food for the general ration while every effort to ensure the supply of fresh vegetables should continue to be made. Inter-agency coordination is improving and should greatly facilitate the on-going monitoring of the situation (i.e. quality of food basket, nutritional status etc).
The number of refugees from Rakhine State, Myanmar in Bangladesh remains fairly stable at just under 200,000 people. Reconstruction of the departure/reception facilities for repatriation that were destroyed by the cyclone in May is said to be virtually complete repatriation, which had been taking place on a small scale (i.e. 444 people in June) is increasing in volume over the summer (i.e. 4,000 in July) [UNHCR-a 30/06/94, WFP 5/08/94].
Food distributions to the fifteen camps and three transit centres are said to be regular with some minor disruptions due to inaccessible roads. The content of the ration is, however, of some concern. Blended foods were discontinued in the general ration in April due to unavailability and are not expected to become available before September or October. Sugar distributions were also temporarily discontinued due to a lack of this commodity. Efforts were made to redress the caloric shortfall by supplying an additional quantity of oil and lentils to the ration although this will not have replaced the amounts of micro-nutrient that would have been supplied by CSB [UNHCR 30/06/94]. As it is highly likely that micronutrient deficiencies still exist in this population, particularly angular stomatitis which was widely reported in early 1994, (see RNIS #5), the reduced quality of the current ration could exacerbate levels of deficiency.
A nutritional screening conducted after the cyclone in May showed 13.5% of the children were wasted and subsequently enrolled in either supplementary or therapeutic feeding programmes. This represents a slight increase over the 11.9% wasting measured before the cyclone. The crude mortality rate for June was 0.29/10,000/day and the under-five rate was 0.59/10,000/day. These mortality rates are considered normal for the region [UNHCR-a 30/06/94].
How could external agencies help? Donors should support efforts to provide micronutrient fortified DSM in the general ration. There should be careful monitoring to ensure its proper use at the household level and that the incidence of diarrhoea does not increase once it has been introduced into the general rations a result of poor preparatory practices.
There are no reports of change in the poor nutrition and health status of the approximately 222,000 Marshland Arabs living both in Iraq and in camps in Iran.
How could external agencies help? There is very little information available on the situation of the Marshland Arabs. Until a clear picture of the situation is known, it is difficult to make recommendations about what could be done.
