UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, is set to start distributing winter clothing to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh on Sunday, as temperatures start to decrease.
UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch made the announcement at press briefing held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
According to a press release, Baloch said: “UNHCR will on Sunday start distributing the first of almost 200,000 items of clothing to help recently-arrived Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh prepare for cooler temperatures in the weeks and months ahead.”
He added that the aid will consist of 170,000 warm shawls for adults and 15,000 sweaters for children under two years, worth $1.5 million in total.
“The monsoon season in southern Bangladesh has now ended and temperatures will soon decline; the average low for January is 15 degrees Celsius. While that temperature is moderate compared to many other regions, the lack of adequate clothing and shelter insulation makes refugees vulnerable to even modest declines in temperatures, especially at night,” Baloch said.
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The UNHCR spokesperson further said that children, who make up 55% of the Rohingya refugees, are particularly vulnerable, as are the elderly and those who are disabled or suffering from serious medical conditions, comprising a further 10%.
Regarding aid that has already been distributed by UNHCR at the Rohingya refugee camps, Baloch said 15,000 new shelter kits, including bamboo poles, ropes, plastic ties, tools and tarpaulins, were distributed in the last month alone. Furthermore, 40,000 core relief items, such as blankets, kitchen sets, solar lights, plastic sheets, mosquito nets and jerry cans, had been distributed over the same period.
In addition, two massive airlifts arrived in Bangladesh last week carrying 26,500 kitchen sets, some 15,000 solar lamps and five pre-fabricated warehouses. Since the beginning of the crisis, UNHCR has organised 17 airlifts, bring more than 2,100 metric tons of aid relief items, worth over US$9 million. Additional aid was shipped by sea in three separate consignments.
UNHCR has also begun distributing cooking fuel in the form of compressed rice husks (CRH). Last week, UNHCR and partners distributed the husks to over 18,000 families in the northern part of Kutupalong and Nayapara settlements. Each refugee household receives 19 kg of the fuel, Baloch said, adding that the husks have been supplied as a replacement to firewood for cooking.
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“Refugees have been sending youngsters into adjacent forests to gather wood, which puts the children at risk and has been degrading the environment by stripping back swathes of woodland every day,” he said.
The UN refugee agency plans to supply 85,000 Rohingya families by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Baloch also said UNHCR had turned part of its transit centre in Kutupalong into a treatment and isolation facility, in response to a reported diphtheria outbreak in Cox’s Bazar. The centre currently accommodates 375 patients and is managed by Médecins Sans Frontières.
“UNHCR is also supporting the diphtheria vaccination campaign by Bangladeshi health authorities for all children under 6, alongside WHO and UNICEF,” the UNHCR spokesperson added.
An estimated 650,000 Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar for Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, since late August. At present, a steady but smaller number of refugees continue to cross from Myanmar. Currently, some 100 a day are entering Bangladesh.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
