Anti-rumour campaign for Rohingyas

M Humayun Kabir: Aid workers rushed to vaccinate Rohingya refugees against measles earlier this year.
Soon after the initiative, rumours swirled through the overcrowded camps in Bangladesh that the injections would make women sterile and convert children into Christians, reports Reuters.
In response, humanitarians are trying innovative projects to counter rumours – translated as “flying news” in the Rohingya language.
The projects will let refugees know how to access healthcare and bolster their shelters against storms, among other advice.
“Life in the camps is hard and full of hazards,” Fiona MacGregor, a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Cox’s Bazar, said by email.
MacGregor also said radio is a key tool for giving out that information, especially as there is no formal written version of the Rohingya language.
The IOM is distributing 60,000 radios that can be powered with a hand crank, and is setting up “listening groups” in partnership with organisations including BBC Media Action.
In the 300 or so groups of about 25 people each, one person leads discussions after listening to programmes that are usually stored on a memory stick, said Richard Lace, Bangladesh director for BBC Media Action.
Information flows both ways, as aid agencies also receive feedback from refugees about their concerns via listening group sessions and surveys.
The international media development agency Internews produces the written “Flying News” bulletin, which helps alert aid workers to rumours in the camps as well as dispelling them.
According to UNICEF, more than 900,000 Rohingya, an ethnic and religious Muslim minority in Myanmar, live in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district, the vast majority in camps.