A massive fire in a huge Rohingya camp in Bangladesh has destroyed two thousand Rohingya refugee shelters. 12 thousand people have become homeless due to the fire in this camp located in the south east of Bangladesh.
According to officials, the fire at Cox’s Bazar has been brought under control and the damage is being estimated. No one has died in this fire incident. The cause of the fire could not be known.
The UNHCR in Bangladesh said in a tweet that Rohingya refugee volunteers were responding to the fire with the agency and its partners providing support. It provided no further details. Firefighters, assisted by local volunteers, were able to get the blaze under control, but a third of the camp’s population had lost their homes and belongings and that the UN was providing mental healthcare services.
About one million refugees who fled Myanmar live in camps in Bangladesh. Fires are not new in these crowded camps of Rohingyas.
According to a locals at the scene of the fire, the fire spread due to strong winds. The administration had to work for hours to put out the fire. After the fire broke out in the camp, the Rohingya families living here took refuge on a nearby hill.
The Rohingyas who have fled Myanmar for fear of an army attack live in a very difficult situation.
In January last year, a fire broke out in the Ukhia refugee camp that gutted 600 houses. Then another fire in March last year destroyed nearly 10,000 shelters and killed 15 people. Rohingya camps have been on fire several times in India as well.
Conditions in Myanmar have worsened since a military takeover in 2021, and attempts to send them back have failed.
