A heartbreaking photo has emerged of a Rohingya Muslim mother desperately clutching her dead baby after the boat they were travelling to escape from Myanmar capsized as the family was fleeing to Bangladesh.
The image bears a tragic resemblance to the lifeless body of Aylan Kurdi, a young Syrian refugee who washed up dead on a Turkish beach in September 2015.
The desperately sad photo of the dead Rohingya baby boy, only 40 days old, was taken in south-eastern Bangladesh by photographer Dar Yasin.
He describes walking on the beach near the town of Cox’s Bazar when he noticed ‘some sort of commotion’.
In this Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017 file photo, a Rohingya Muslim woman Hanida Begum, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, kisses her infant son Abdul Masood who died when the boat they were traveling in capsized just before reaching the shore of the Bay of Bengal, in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh. Nearly three weeks into a mass exodus of Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar, thousands were still flooding across the border Thursday in search of help and safety in teeming refugee settlements in Bangladesh. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)
Hanida Begum who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, wails as she holds her infant son Abdul Masood
‘A boat had capsized. Some women were unconscious. One woman was crying, as a family member had drowned; three more were in precarious condition and I was unsure if they would make it. Another woman was consoling her,’ Yasin told Time.
‘And then suddenly, the woman who was consoling the crying woman started wailing herself. Her husband had come over with Abdul Masood, one of their twin sons, who was dead. She held one child who was alive and one who wasn’t breathing. It was heartbreaking.’
Yasin said the boat the refugees were travelling in – containing 45 members of the same family – capsized only a few meters from the shore. But it was too far away to save Hanida Begum’s child.
Conditions for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees in who live in flimsy makeshift shacks in Myanmar have deteriorated as they battle heavy rain, enforced relocations and extortion demands
There are fears that food shortages for hundreds of thousands refugees may become more of a problem because aid agencies in south-eastern Bangladesh have struggled to reach the area and local agencies in one of the poorest countries in the world have struggled to cope
The refugees are living in flimsy makeshift shacks – mostly made out of bamboo and plastic sheets. They have been described as some of the most persecuted people in the world and their predicament has worsened in the monsoon rains
Most refugees fled from Myanmar in overcrowded boats across the Naf river that separates the country from Bangladesh. Many in the international community have described their enforced exodus as ethnic cleansing
It is estimated that the number of Rohingya Muslims who have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state to Bangladesh has soared to more than 420,000 in a matter of weeks – they will be joining thousands of other refugees who have fled Myanmar in recent years
Conditions for children fleeing Myanmar are especially tough – with reports that many have either been killed or injured in the exodus. In addition many the UN says many children have been separated from their families have been left to fend for themselves
Rohingya people in Myanmar say they have been subjected to a campaign of terror at the hands of the Myanmar authorities which has resulted in their villages being razed and their speedy exodus from the country – often at gunpoint
The death of three-year-old Syrian boy Alan Kurdi made global headlines in September 2015 when he drowned while he and his family were trying to reach Europe along with thousands of other refugees . Photographs of his body quickly spread around the world and became the defining image of the horror of the Middle East refugee crisis
Mayanmar leader and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticised internationally for her lackluster response to the Rohingya refugee crisis , with some even calling for her to be stripped of her award
The refugees are among hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled Burma to escape persecution at the hands of the predominately Buddhist government.
Myanmar leader and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has received criticism from across the world for her failure strongly to speak out about their plight.
The refugees – who have been described as some of the most persecuted people in the world – are living in pitiable conditions in squalid camps in south-eastern Bangladesh.
Their misery has been compounded recently by strong monsoon rains which have flooded their flimsy shelters made only out of bamboo and plastic sheets.
People in the camps were left in a mudbath on Wednesday as they desperately packed their meagre belongings into plastic sacks in a desperate quest to find drier shelters.
Their numbers have soared to more than 420,000 in a matter of weeks.
The refugees also have to contend with enforced relocations at the hands of the Bangladesh authorities and extortion demands if they try to remain where they are.
The death of three-year-old Syrian boy Alan Kurdi made global headlines in September 2015 when he drowned while he and his family were trying to reach Europe along with thousands of other refugees.
Photographs of his body quickly spread around the world and became the defining image of the horror of the Middle East refugee crisis.