Rohingya refugees in Bangladeshi refugee camps face diphtheria threat: UN

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- UN agencies said on Friday diphtheria is rapidly spreading in Cox's Bazar camps in Bangladesh along the border with Myanmar and preparations are being made to discuss Rohingya refugees' voluntary returns to Myanmar "safely and in dignity."

The World Health Organization (WHO) said there are more than 110 people in the sprawling Cox's Bazar camps, most of them children. Six fatalities have already been counted.

The WHO says people must be relocated immediately to stem the spread of the disease. It is working with Bangladesh's health ministry and other partners to scale up prevention and treatment.

Routine immunizations targeting children up to the age of 6 will begin Saturday while older children cannot be immunized now because of a shortage of vaccines, the WHO also said.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said it is preparing to have talks about refugee returns with Bangladeshi authorities in line with an agreement Dhaka signed with Naypyitaw on Nov. 23 on the voluntary repatriation of Rohingya refugees. But there were no details agreed on, such as the refugees's right to voluntary safe return with dignity.

UNHCR also said it is ready to help the two governments work towards arrangements that allow refugees to exercise their right to return spelled out in a tripartite repatriation agreement.

Chief UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported the number of ethnic Rohingyas who have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar since Aug. 25 has risen to 646,000, a sharp hike from 626,000 tallied earlier in the week. Enditem