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.

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.

Registration, including birth registration, for all refugees is critical. UNHCR’s family counting exercise which began on 3 October has now been completed. UNHCR teams continue to count new arrivals and update the data for families who may move within settlements. In parallel, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) is conducting biometrics registration for some 830,000 individuals, including new arrivals. UNHCR will work jointly with authorities to update data records and share with the authorities complementary data which UNHCR gathered on the location of individuals and on family composition. This is expected to result in good data set that will enable UNHCR and the authorities to better plan together, with other partners.

As part of their winterization activities, UNHCR and its partners are continuing to distribute shawls and sweaters as the temperatures decrease. A total of 20,458 shawls were distributed as of 20 December. UNHCR is also distributing, through its partners, sweaters for children under five. In Nayapara, the military agreed for UNHCR to use its distribution point, which will increase the outreach from 526 families to 1,200 families during each distribution that takes place four times a week.

Arrivals from Myanmar have significantly decreased, with over 2,200 refugees crossing into Bangladesh from 1 to 26 December, compared to over 12,700 in November.

The second phase of UNHCR’s shelter strategy is underway in preparation for the monsoon season. Since November, UNHCR and its partners has distributed some 27,600 upgraded shelter kits, composed of bamboo poles, ropes, tools, and tarpaulins, to help refugees build sturdier homes. Since November 2017, over 27,500 kits were distributed. In four days only, UNHCR’s partner ADRA completed the distribution for more than 2,600 families in Charmakul / Karantoli. In addition, UNHCR continues to collaborate with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) to identify areas, which have the highest risk of landslides and to mobilize partners to prepare the sites for the upcoming rains.

The 190 active community outreach members (COMs), which cover four areas of Kutupalong, including the makeshift, Nayapara extension area and Chakmarkul, have conducted over 150 home visits and more than 210 information sessions, reaching out to some 3,500 refugees. Forty cases under monitoring have been resolved after actions by COMs and partners this week.