In the early hours of Sunday, a devastating fire devastated a Rohingya refugee camp in southeastern Bangladesh. It destroyed around 1,000 shelters and left thousands of people homeless, local authorities report.
First modification:
4 min
In the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, southern Bangladesh, a raging fire consumed an overcrowded Rohingya refugee camp. It destroyed more than 1,000 shelters and left thousands of people homeless.
Strong winds fueled the fire, which spread to the Kutupalong camp, in Ukhiya, at midnight on Saturday, without reporting any casualties. “The fire was large and destroyed about 1,040 shelters in the camp,” a local firefighter told the AP news agency. “It took us about two hours to bring the flames under control, with the participation of ten fire units from Ukhiya and other stations in the district,” he added.
According to witnesses, women and children ran to a nearby empty field for protection, carrying the few belongings they could with them.
“We are suffering from very cold weather and are facing a difficult situation. We are currently sitting by a stream with my grandchildren after narrowly escaping a life-threatening situation. Our tents were destroyed by fire,” declared Zuhura Begum, 65.
Apart from homes, other facilities such as educational centers were destroyed by the flames, according to Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh Commissioner for Refugee Relief and Repatriation in Cox's Bazar.
For its part, UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, stated that nearly 7,000 people were left homeless by the fire and that some 120 facilities, including mosques and health centres, were destroyed.
Although the exact cause of the fire is still unclear, preliminary statements from refugees suggest that a clay oven may have been the cause, said Shafiqul Islam, head of the Ukhiya fire station.
Fires in refugee camps are common, and previous incidents have seen the destruction of thousands of homes. Last year, around 12,000 people were left homeless after a fire destroyed 2,800 shelters and more than 90 facilities, including hospitals and learning centres. An investigative group created by the commission called it an “act of planned sabotage.”
In this Sunday's fire, authorities continue to assess the damage. “The cause of the fire currently remains unknown, and government authorities have assured us that an investigation into the cause of the fire will be carried out,” UNHCR said.
A crisis without return
More than a million Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar over several decades, including some 740,000 who crossed the border since August 2017, following a brutal crackdown by the Myanmar military.
The Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh has its roots in the ethnic and religious persecution suffered by the Rohingya in Myanmar. They are a Muslim ethnic minority with centuries of history in Myanmar, but the country's government does not recognize them as citizens and considers them migrants from Bangladesh. Over the decades, the Rohingya have faced discrimination, violence and abuse from both authorities and extremist Buddhist groups.
In 2017, the situation came to a head when the Myanmar military launched a military operation in response to an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. The military operation resulted in massive human rights violations, including murder, rape, torture, and the destruction of entire villages. The conflict forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh in search of refuge and protection.
The Rohingya refugee crisis is considered one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world and has been condemned by multiple human rights NGOs.
The situation in Myanmar has worsened since the military took power in 2021, and attempts to repatriate refugees have proven unsuccessful. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said on multiple occasions that she will not force the return of refugees. Several human rights groups warn that conditions in Myanmar are neither suitable nor safe for repatriation at this time.
In 2022, the United States corroborated mass atrocities carried out by the Myanmar Army in a systematic campaign targeting the Rohingya ethnic minority. The official US statement claimed that the brutal repression of the Rohingya in Myanmar reaches the level of genocide.
With AP
#Fire #destroys #homes #thousands #Rohingya #refugees #Bangladesh
