Priyanka Chopra highlights plight of Rohingya refugee children in UNICEF visit to Bangladesh

Actress Priyanka Chopra was one of the lucky few who attended the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, now known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, in Windsor, England. Chopra became close friends with Markle when they were both filming Quantico and Suits in Canada.

Right after the wedding and post-party celebrations, the actress boarded a flight to visit the children of the Rohingya refugees at the Shamlapur Integrated camp in Bangladesh, the largest refugee camp in the world. She arrived at the fishing port, Cox’s Bazar, where she mingled with young boys and girls, telling them to stay in school.

Chopra toured and spoke with officials and doctors monitoring the camp who told her that they were overwhelmed with the amount of refugees. They were doing their best to treat them against such infectious diseases like cholera and provide them with food and shelter as they escaped from their homes in Myanmar and crossed the border into Bangladesh. More than half of these refugees are children.

She traded her high heels and sparkling Dior gown for a simple white UNICEF t-shirt and a blue scarf worn around her head that matched her loose pants.

In her Instagram stories, Chopra tried to understand the arduous journey the refugees took to travel to Bangladesh, on foot, tired, hungry and dehydrated. She highlighted the good work UNICEF does at these refugee camps, providing the young children with access to education.

Some of them hadn’t been to school before. “Education is key to giving these kids a future,” she wrote.

Chopra implored the world in her post that we need to come to their aid, especially for the children.

“Many months later they are still highly vulnerable, living in overcrowded camps with no idea when or where they will ever belong...even worse, when they will get their next meal. AND...as they finally start to settle and feel a sense of safety, monsoon season looms...threatening to destroy all that they’ve built so far. This is an entire generation of children that have no future in sight. Through their smiles I could see the vacancy in their eyes. These children are at the forefront of this humanitarian crisis, and they desperately need our help. The world needs to care. We need to care,” she stressed.

The global traveller will likely return to the US where the final season of her television show, Quantico, is playing out. Chopra will eventually come back to India to film her next feature film, Bharat (2019), co-starring Salman Khan, Tabu and Disha Patani.