Rohingya Muslim step2

Organised criminal gangs and sexual
predators are scouring the Rohingya
refugee camps on the Bangladesh-
Myanmar border looking for orphans,
promising dubious jobs and exploiting
women for so-called "survival sex",
according to aid groups.
Since August, an estimated 580,000
Rohingya Muslims have crossed into
Bangladesh, fleeing a scorched earth
campaign by the Myanmar security
forces and local vigilantes.
But now even the refugee camps that
offered some safety are attracting
criminals.
"We've heard stories of people coming
in and offering people, looking for
orphans and saying, 'We'll take you to a
safe place'," Zia Choudhury, Bangladesh
country director for the humanitarian
group CARE, said.
"[They're] offering people jobs to go
and work as cleaners or maids, and we
know that those are organised gangs
who are going to whisk these vulnerable
people away and take them to some
worse situation.
"We also know that men are turning up
and offering cash to people who are so
hungry, so thirsty, they need help, they
need money, they're offering cash for
sex."
The Bangladesh Government and aid
agencies are doing all they can to keep
these predators out of the camps and
protect vulnerable people, Mr
Choudhury said.
Despite the emerging risk, the camps
still represent relative safety for
thousands of new arrivals every day.
Many Rohingya women and children
arrived in Bangladesh with stories of
being sexually assaulted in Myanmar —
either in their village or as they walked
to the border.
"Rape, human trafficking, and survival
sex have been reported among the
existing perils for women and girls
during flight," Robert Watkins, the
United Nations resident coordinator in
Bangladesh, said.
A humanitarian response plan prepared
by the UN this month estimated
448,000 people in the refugee camps
need assistance because of gender-
based violence.
That includes rape, other sexual
assaults and trauma from witnessing
attacks.