The Korean Seon (Zen) master and engaged Buddhist Venerable Pomnyun Sunim, founder and chairman of the international relief organization Join Together Society (JTS), led a team of volunteers to Bangladesh on 2 December to deliver 6.36 million bars of soap to a refugee camp that is home to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled persecution and violence in neighboring Myanmar.

This latest donation follows the earlier success of the JTS relief project, when, in September 2022 and January 2019, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim led aid representatives to deliver consignments of gas stoves for refugees in Cox’s Bazar, a district of Bangladesh’s Chittagong Division.* 

After arriving in Bangladesh, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim headed for a meeting at the UNHCR’s Cox’s Bazar office, to receive a breakdown of the present situation at the refugee camp: “About a million Rohingya refugees are living in Cox’s Bazar. Of these, 97 per cent reside in the Cox’s Bazar camp, while the remaining 3 per cent live on Bhasan Char Island. The main reason for moving to Bhasan Char Island is the safer security environment,” the UNHCR’s senior operations coordinator explained.

“Over the past two years, the security situation in the camp has significantly deteriorated. Conflicts between various criminal organizations within the camp have doubled the crime rate, severely compromising security.

“Due to budget cuts by the World Food Programme, the monthly food support per person decreased from US$12 to US$8 last year. Although the support amount recovered to US$12.50 at the beginning of this year, the reduction had a serious impact on the nutritional status in the camp. For example, the malnutrition rate in 2023 was 15.1 per cent, exceeding the threshold of 15 per cent.

“Most of the housing in the camp consists of temporary structures made of bamboo and tarpaulin. The Bangladesh government maintains a policy that all refugees must return to Myanmar, so it does not allow long-term and durable housing improvement measures.” (Jungto Society)

The UNHCR’s head of Cox’s Bazar camp operations, who is overseeing support activities for Rohingya refugees, remarked that the living environment at the camp had improved markedly since JTS had provided a combined 200,000 gas stoves for the camp residents. 

“Thanks to the gas stoves provided by JTS, the refugee camp has turned into a green zone,” she noted. “In the past, refugees burned wood for fuel, devastating the environment around the camp, but since JTS provided gas stoves, they no longer cut down trees. We’re focusing on planting trees and making the camp greener.”

She then observed that they were investigating long-term solutions to other issues, including education, and self-reliance support, and other problems faced by refugees.

“The Rohingya refugee problem is unlikely to be resolved in the short term,” she added. “While return to Myanmar would be the best solution, both the international community and the Bangladesh government see little possibility of such in the short term. Therefore, it’s important to seek long-term solutions so that refugees don’t continuously rely on humanitarian aid. For the past two years, the UNHCR has focused on vocational education, skills training, and income-generating activities. We’re considering ways for refugees with occupations such as carpenters and plumbers to work directly and become self-reliant within the camp. Through the COVID-19 experience, we realized that hygiene issues in the camp are serious. Especially in the southern camp, water shortage is severe during the dry season. Solving hygiene and water problems is a very important task for the health and survival of refugees. That’s why the soap provided by JTS this time will be of great help.” (Jungto Society)

Ven. Pomnyun Sunim and the JTS volunteers then traveled to the Camp 4 area within the refugee camp, where the manager of Camp 4 expressed gratitude to Sunim: “We’re grateful for JTS’s continuous support. The soap you’ve provided this time will be distributed to all refugees living in 16 camps under the UNHCR’s jurisdiction. Thank you very much.” (Jungto Society)

In the Camp 4 warehouse, two million bars of soap had already arrived for distribution to the refugees: one million bars of laundry soap and one million bars of personal soap. JTS plans to provide 6.36 million bars of soap spread over three shipments of 2.12 million, which will be distributed to people living in 16 camps under the UNHCR’s jurisdiction.

One bar of personal soap and one bar of laundry soap were distributed per person, calculated according to family size. Antibacterial soap was prepared as many refugees are suffering from skin diseases. Women also received hygiene kits.

“We have started distributing the soap provided by JTS to refugees from today,” the UNHCR team said. “In a situation where humanitarian support is decreasing, the sponsorship of JTS and Ven. Pomnyun Sunim has not only provided material support but also given a big resonance to remind the international community not to forget the Rohingya refugee issue.” (Jungto Society)

Ven. Pomnyun Sunim led a small ceremony for the soap delivery as the UNHCR’s spokesperson expressed gratitude to JTS. “This soap is not just a hygiene item. It provides the minimum conditions for a dignified human life, thanks to JTS.”

JTS Korea was established by Ven. Pomnyun Sunim in 1993 as an expression of the compassion of engaged Buddhism and the belief that helping others is the best way to enrich one’s own life. Headquartered in Seoul, JTS operates program offices in South Korea, Germany, and the United States, along with field offices in India and the Philippines. The relief organization has also earned Special Consultative Status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Charged with bringing hope, empowerment, and self-reliance to underprivileged communities in developing countries, JTS is run and manned by unpaid volunteers, who ensure that all donations benefit the marginalized communities with which the organization works. JTS carries out relief work in countries suffering from humanitarian disasters, with the aim of “solving the problems of poverty and pain in Asia by the efforts of Asian people,” and has already completed humanitarian projects in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, North Korea, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

In October 2017, JTS Korea provided 15 tonnes of rice and 700 mosquito nets to Rohingya camps in Bangladesh. In January 2018, they brought a further 30 tonnes of rice and 2,000 blankets. It was during these visits that the WFP, the UN organization overseeing the relief camps, first proposed that JTS Korea also provide gas stoves.*

The combined donations of 200,000 gas stoves facilitated by JTS at Cox’s Bazar in 2019 and 2022 mean that close to a million lives have directly benefited. This project has helped to decrease malnutrition, allowed the local environment to recover, and reduced the workloads and dangers to the lives of women and children who would typically have had to forage for firewood, and are now at a much lower risk of violence and sexual assault. The stoves also enable Rohingya families to cook meals safely inside their homes, significantly improving their living conditions and quality of life.*

Religious tensions between the Buddhists and minority Rohingya Muslims in neighboring Myanmar have simmered for almost half a century. Myanmar’s government classifies Rohingya Muslims as stateless foreign migrants, even though many communities have lived in Myanmar for generations. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled military clearance operations and attacks by Buddhist mobs in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, seeking refuge in neighboring Bangladesh, in what the United Nations has described as the “world’s fastest growing refugee crisis” involving “the most persecuted people in the world.”

Ven. Pomnyun Sunim, the guiding Dharma teacher of Jungto Society, is a widely respected author and social activist. He has founded numerous organizations, initiatives, and projects across the world. In October 2020, The Niwano Peace Foundation in Japan presented the 37th Niwano Peace Prize to Ven. Pomnyun Sunim in recognition of the revered monk’s international humanitarian work, environmental and social activism, and his tireless efforts to build trust and goodwill between communities of different faiths and cultures, toward the goal of world peace.**

* Engaged Buddhism: Ven. Pomnyun Sunim and JTS Volunteers Bring 100,000 Gas Stoves to Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh (BDG), UPDATE: Buddhist Relief from JTS Korea Transforming the Lives of Rohingya Refugees (BDG), Buddhist Relief Organization JTS Korea Sends PPE to Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh amid COVID Fears (BDG), and Korean Buddhist Humanitarian Organization JTS Brings 100,000 Gas Stoves to Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh (BDG)

** Buddhist Monk Ven. Pomnyun Sunim Awarded the 37th Niwano Peace Prize (BDG)

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Pomnyun
Jungto Society
JTS Korea
JTS America
May This Soap Help Improve the Difficult Conditions in the Refugee Camp (Jungto Society)

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