Dhaka: UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock and UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake will be here on a three-day visit from Monday to see Rohingya situation on the ground and discuss it with Bangladesh officials.

They will visit Cox’s Bazar on Monday and Tuesday to meet Rohingyas and assess their needs.

The purpose of the joint mission is to see first-hand the devastating humanitarian situation of the Rohingya refugees, an official told UNB on Sunday. 

Since late August, more than 500,000 Rohingya refugees, among them 60 per cent children, have arrived in Cox’s Bazar alone, marking the largest mass refugee movement in the region in decades.

In Bangladesh, the total number of Rohingya refugees is now estimated to be well over 700,000 people while an unofficial figure suggests over 1 million.

The scale of the emergency has far surpassed initial projections, officials said.

The initial response plan, launched on September 7, sought US$77 million to assist 300,000 people.

As of September 29, the plan has received $36.4 million, or 47 per cent, of the funding requirements for the coordinated response.

Humanitarian partners are now revising the initial plan to account for the massive additional needs.

Lowcock and Lake will brief media on the latest updates on the Rohingya refugee crisis, response and funding needs following their two-day mission to Cox’s Bazar at the Ocean Paradise Hotel in Cox’s Bazar town at 2:00pm on October 3.