Aid group warns of health risks to babies born in Rohingya camps

International aid group Save the Children predicts at least 48,000 children will be born this year to Rohingya Muslims living in overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh. The group said in its Friday report that a majority of the babies will be born in tents due to a shortage of 24-hour health facilities in the camps. The unsanitary conditions will put the babies at risk of catching diseases or dying before they turn 5, according to the group. “The camps have poor sanitation and are a breeding ground for diseases like diphtheria, measles, and cholera, to which newborn babies are particularly vulnerable,” said Rachael Cummings, Save the Children’s health adviser in the Bangladeshi town of Cox’s Bazar. More than 650,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar (also known as Burma) for neighboring Bangladesh following clearance operations by security officials against the minority group.