UN warns of 'lost generation' of Rohingya children

The United Nations warned onThursday of what it described as a lost generation of MuslimRohingya children, with half a million in refugee camps inBangladesh facing dangers including disease and floods and thosestill in Myanmar lacking access to proper education.

One year since 700,000 Rohingyas fled a violent crackdown byMyanmar security forces in Rakhine state, UNICEFgave a bleak assessment of the outlook forchildren on either side of the border.

"We are talking about risking the loss or the potential lossof a generation of Rohingya children," UNICEF spokespersonSimonIngram told a news conference in Geneva after spending six weeksin the camps in Cox's Bazar.

"It isn't just the half a million children or so on theBangladeshi side of border but it's also those who are still left behind in Rakhine state, whose access to education ispatchy at best and highly limited," he said.

The UNestimates that 530,000 to 600,000 statelessRohingyas remain in Rakhine state, including some 360,000 children, he said. The UNhas limited access there.

Bleak prospects for return

The Rohingya, who regard themselves as native to Rakhinestate, are widely considered as interlopers by Myanmar's Buddhist majority and are denied citizenship.

Myanmar's military launched the crackdown in northernRakhine a year ago in response to militant attacks. The civilian administration of government leader Aung San Suu Kyi defendedwhat it described as a legitimate counter-insurgency operation.

The administration has said it is ready to accept backrefugees. Suu Kyi said on Tuesday spaces have been mapped outfor the resettlement of people who fled.

Ingram said the prospects for their return to Myanmaranytime soon were bleak, despite a voluntary repatriation agreement signed by the Yangon government and UNagencies inJune. He said conditions in Rakhine remained unsafe.

UNICEF said it was expanding education programs in thecamps in Bangladesh, currently for children up to the age of 14,to try to meet the needs of older children.