What (I hope) Secretary Tillerson and Pope Francis Saw

During just three-weeks this August – September, 165,000 Rohingya villagers fled for their lives as powerful, armed forces burned their villages and terrorized and beat them; many were murdered.

By Matt Ellingson, Thursday, November 30, 2017

Food for the Hungry works in refugee camps to make sure the most vulnerable receive help — like the elderly who may not be physically able to wait in long lines for food. | Medair/Nath Fauveau

I've been in Cox Bazaar as thousands of desperate Rohingya have streamed in. But it is the eyes of one young girl whose stare, hollow and hopeful, haunted me. Only weeks before, she had run through shaded paths on her way to school with her friends. Now I could neither comprehend the sadness that filled her nor pull my eyes away.

This girl is among the more than 647,000 Rohingya who have fled across the border from Myanmar into impoverished Bangladesh. The Rohingya are an extremely vulnerable Muslim minority in the majority Buddhist nation of Myanmar. Violent conflict is driving the Rohingya in South Asia from their homes. Many have sought refuge in Bangladesh, itself one of the most densely populated and poorest countries in the world, and currently struggling in the wake of devastating floods.

A bloody bandage was wrapped around this young girl's right arm and shoulder, an injury from a bullet wound suffered from the same bullet that killed her mother. Her father had been killed days before as they fled their Myanmar village.There were no words to speak; I pray my eyes communicated love.

The people who are suffering the worst are the children and women, the elderly and those with special needs. During just three-weeks this August – September, 165,000 Rohingya villagers fled for their lives as powerful, armed forces burned their villages and terrorized and beat them; many were murdered. In the chaos, children were separated from their parents; the old or ill, unable to escape, were killed. In the last several months, an estimated 700,000 Rohingya have joined early escapees —a mind-numbingly rapid exodus of a religious minority from Myanmar's Rakhine State.

Food for the Hungry is working with the Bangladeshi government and other government-sanctioned organizations to provide food, drinking water and other desperately needed, life-saving supplies.

I've been to many desperate places around the world in my role as Director of Response & International Partnerships for Relief & Humanitarian Affairs at Food for the Hungry, the faith-based humanitarian and development assistance organization I work for. With all the current tragedies, natural and manmade, near and far, I pray we do not forget that we must serve not just the nearest, but also the neediest.

Behind the fleeing Rohingya masses, landmines are now being laid to prevent those who seek refuge in Bangladesh from returning to their homes, and they create a deadly barrier for those who remain trapped. When I am finally able to take my eyes away from the haunting stare of the young girl, I was captured again as I stood in this emergency ward filled with serious injuries that occurred as these Rohingya fled for their lives. This time my eyes meet the boy in the next bed with shrapnel wounds due to one of those landmines.

Matthew Ellingson is Director of Response & Int'l Partnerships Relief & Humanitarian Affairs. More information at Food for the Hungry.