The joint family counting exercise, led by the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) and supported by UNHCR, was launched in Balukhali. A joint team of around 114 staff is collecting information on families, including vulnerabilities and specific needs, and geo-localising them through a mobile device. Refugee families will receive an RRRC card to facilitate harmonized assistance delivery.

The authorities and UNHCR have identified a site for a transit centre to temporarily host new arrivals before they are allocated a plot in Kutupalong extension. UNHCR is coordinating with partners to set up medical services, sanitation facilities, family reunification, and provision of food and water.

UNHCR identified sites to build five additional health centres, as planned in its emergency response plan. Two centres are under construction and already providing some services, such as outpatient and maternity services. The five health centres will benefit approximately 50,000 patients each, thus covering a total 250,000 refugees.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency has relocated some 1,700 new refugees to a government-allocated site in south-eastern Bangladesh, decongesting existing facilities in Kutupalong and giving them a home after weeks on the move.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply saddened by reports of a new shipwreck in the Bay of Bengal this morning in which at least four Rohingya refugees died when their boat capsized close to the southern Bangladesh shore. Others who were injured have been taken to local hospitals for immediate treatment.

Thousands of refugees from Myanmar have been admitted to Bangladesh after spending up to four days stranded near the border. By last night Bangladesh border guards reported that over 6,800 refugees had passed through Anjuman Para border village in Cox’s Bazar district. Thousands more are said to be on their way from Myanmar. The most vulnerable among the new arrivals are bussed from the border to a transit centre near Kutupalong camp. At the centre, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its partners provide food, water, medical checks and temporary shelter.

Since Sunday night, an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Rohingya refugees have entered Bangladesh through the Anjuman Para border crossing point in Ukhia district in the country’s south-east. Many say they had initially chosen to remain in their homes in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state despite repeated threats to leave or be killed. They finally fled when their villages were set on fire. The refugees UNHCR staff spoke to yesterday described walking for around a week to reach the Bangladesh border. Some crossed into the country on Sunday night, others throughout Monday in the heat and rain.

UNHCR has just completed the first phase of Rohingya refugee family counting, where more than half a million refugees from Myanmar have so far been counted. Going from shelter to shelter, more than 100 UNHCR-hired enumerators have so far gathered data on more than 120,000 families. In the innovative and revealing family counting exercise, UNHCR teams found that one-third of the families are vulnerable.

More than 500,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have been registered in a joint registration exercise by the Bangladesh authorities and UNHCR. For many of these refugees, it is the first time they have an identity card.

Kelly T. Clements, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, concluded a four-day visit to Bangladesh. While in Cox’s Bazar, she met with local officials to discuss the ongoing operational response and opportunities to further aid Bangladeshi communities generously hosting refugees.