Huge fire at Rohingya refugee camp, Bangladesh leaves thousands homeless

Fire rages in Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Photo: The Reuters

The fire broke out at Camp 11 in Cox's Bazar, a southeastern border district of Bangladesh that is home to more than a million Rohingya refugees. Most of the refugees had fled a military-led crackdown in Myanmar in 2017, and the fire left some of them homeless again.

“We do not have an estimate of the damage yet but there are no reports of casualties,” said Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, the local police chief. He added that the fire was under control and senior officials from the fire, police and refugee relief departments were at the scene.

The fire burned down about 2,000 huts before it was brought under control. Photo: CNN

Authorities are working with international and local humanitarian organizations to provide food and temporary shelter to those displaced, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam added.

"I couldn't save anything. Everything was burned to ashes. Many people are homeless. I don't know what will happen to us. When we were in Myanmar, we faced a lot of problems... our houses were burned down, now it has happened again," said Selim Ullah, a 40-year-old refugee and father of six.

Rohingya refugees try to save their belongings after a massive fire destroyed their camp. Photo: CNN

The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Bangladesh said on social media that “they are assessing people’s needs to provide assistance.”

In March 2021, in the worst fire in the Rohingya camps, at least 15 people were killed and around 50,000 were displaced after a fire engulfed entire blocks of houses in one settlement. An estimated 1 million members of the stateless Muslim Rohingya minority live in the world's largest refugee camps after fleeing a brutal campaign of killings and arson by the Myanmar military, according to The Guardian .

SERIOUS (According to CNN, The Guardian)

Source