Thousands of Rohingya are homeless after a fire in an overcrowded refugee camp in Bangladesh. The flames destroyed the shelters made of bamboo and tarpaulins for those fleeing Myanmar. Apparently there were no deaths.
A fire in an overcrowded Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh left thousands of people homeless overnight. News agencies, citing authorities, report at least 2,500 to 4,000 homeless people.
The fire raged in the early hours of the morning in the refugee camp in the southeast of the country, which was densely built with shelters made of bamboo and tarpaulins, said refugee representative Mizanur Rahman to the AFP news agency. “At least 711 accommodations are completely burned and 63 are partially damaged,” said the refugee representative. According to him, there were no victims. The fire is now under control.
An investigation into the cause of the fire has been ordered, Rahman said: “We suspect that it is an act of arson.” The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said it was providing support to those affected by the fire.
Refugees look at the burnt camp in Cox’s Bazaar in Bangladesh.
More than a million Rohingya in Bangladesh
About a million Rohingya live in the world’s largest concentration of refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar district in southeastern Bangladesh. Hundreds of thousands fled their Buddhist-majority homeland of Myanmar in 2017 when the military launched an offensive against the Muslim minority. The UN describes their persecution as genocide.
The poor country of Bangladesh still hopes that the refugees will return to Myanmar. So far, however, several attempts at repatriation have failed due to security concerns for the refugees.
Always violence and fires
Fires in refugee camps in Bangladesh are particularly common in the dry season from November to April. In March 2023, a fire destroyed 2,000 accommodations in the Kutupalong refugee settlement, one of the largest refugee camps in the world. Two years earlier, 15 Rohingya were killed in a fire there, leaving 50,000 people homeless.
In many of the camps there is violence between rival Rohingya gangs. According to police, security conditions have deteriorated. Last year, 60 refugees were killed in turf wars and drug-related clashes.