Priyanka visits Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar

Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra, upon her visit to the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar, said that through the smiles of the Rohingya children, she has seen vacancy in the eyes. The children, she said, are at the forefront of this humanitarian crisis.

“This is an entire generation of children that have no future in sight. Through their smiles I could see the vacancy in their eyes,” said the former Miss World and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in her Instagram and Facebook pages following a visit yesterday afternoon.

Priyanka arrived in Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday morning after attending the Royal wedding in England. She flew to Cox's Bazar by a US-Bangla flight at 12:40pm and then traveled to Ukhia by road and checked in at the Royal Tulip hotel.

Clad in a white T-shirt, black jeans, and a scarf around her head, she went to visit the Shamlapur Rohingya camp under Baharchhara union in Teknaf at around 3:00pm, where she spent around an hour with the children and visited a UNICEF-run clinic.

“Priyanka asked the children how they are, what they do, if they were vaccinated and if they wanted to return to Myanmar,” reports our correspondent from Cox's Bazar.

Priyanka then got into the car shortly after 4:00pm to return to the hotel.

“I'm in Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh, today for a field visit with UNICEF, visiting one of the largest refugee camps in the world,” she wrote on her Instagram post.

The 35-year old Indian actor said that in the second half of 2017, the world saw horrific images of the ethnic cleansing in the Rakhine State of Myanmar, which drove nearly 700,000 Rohingyas across the border into Bangladesh.

“60 per cent are children! Many months later, they are still highly vulnerable, living in overcrowded camps with no idea when or where they will ever belong...even worse, when they will get their next meal.

“AND...as they finally start to settle and feel a sense of safety, monsoon season looms...threatening to destroy all that they've built so far.”

She said the Rohingya children are at the forefront of this humanitarian crisis, and they desperately need our help.

“The world needs to care. We need to care…these kids are our future,” urged Chopra, also a singer, film producer, and philanthropist, who is followed by millions of fans worldwide.

Today, Priyanka is scheduled to visit the Rohingya camps in Balukhalil and Jamtoli in Ukhia, and another in Teknaf.

On Wednesday, she will visit the Kutupalong camp. She is scheduled to return to Dhaka on Thursday.