Priyanka Chopra meets Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, calls on PM Hasina

Actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra today sought to draw the world's attention to the plight of Myanmar's Rohingya refugees, as she met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and lauded the country for its response to the massive humanitarian crisis.

Chopra, who arrived in Bangladesh on Monday on a four-day visit, also visited and met some of the displaced Rohingyas of Myanmar living in the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, a town on the southeast coast of the country.

"The world should learn from Bangladesh," a spokesperson from the prime minister's office quoted Chopra as saying during her meeting with Hasina.

The prime minister's additional press secretary Nazrul Islam said the Bollywood star particularly praised Hasina for shouldering the burden of over a million "forcibly displaced" ethnic minority population of Myanmar during her courtesy visit at the premier's Gonobhaban residence this afternoon.

Chopra, 35, who visited the Rohingya camps for the second time, shared her comparative experience of interacting with the children there, saying over the months they overcame the trauma of violence they witnessed at their homeland, the official said.

"Earlier, when I visited the Rohingya camps I asked the children to draw a picture ... they drew pictures of arms, gunfire and mortar shell from roving helicopters.

"As I told them to do the same this time they drew pictures of sun, animals and nature," Chopra said, terming the change as a "testimony of their inside healing".

"And it was possible due to your motherly shelter and security," she told Hasina.

The prime minister's sister, Sheikh Rehana, and family members were present during the call on.

Chopra, however, feared the Rohingya children still were exposed to a hazardous situation in their camps.

On behalf of the UN's children emergency relief fund, she called upon the international community to extend all out support for the Rohingyas.

The "Quantico" star told Hasina that she was concerned about the possibility of a "generation loss" of a particular ethnicity as a large number of children have no access to education and passing their days roaming around.

"The children may go astray and even become extremists if they are deprived of the opportunity of having education," Chopra feared.

Hasina told Chopra that her government has given shelter to the Rohingyas solely on humanitarian ground as people of Bangladesh experienced the same situation in 1971.

Hasina also said that her government has been making efforts to give the Rohaingyas all support, but it was not possible alone for Bangladesh to mitigate their sufferings and UNICEF and other international agencies should come forward with more support.

According to the UN, the humanitarian crisis caused by escalating violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State has forced close to seven lakh Rohingyas to cross the border into Cox's Bazar.

Not only has the pace of arrivals since August last year till April this year has made this the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world, the concentration of refugees in Cox's Bazar is now amongst the densest in the world.