Tue 07 March 2023:
The United Nations said that a fire that ravaged a camp at Cox’s Bazar in southeast Bangladesh has left more than 12,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees homeless.
According to the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the fire on Sunday damaged more than 2,000 shelters and over 90 buildings, including hospitals and educational facilities. Cox’s Bazar is home to over a million Rohingya refugees, the majority of whom fled a military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017.
Bangladesh is investigating the cause of the fire, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Mizanur Rahman said. “Once we get the report, it will be clear whether it was an act of sabotage or not,” he added.
Fires often break out in the crowded camp with its makeshift structures. A massive blaze in March 2021 killed at least 15 refugees and destroyed over 10,000 homes.
Resident Shafiur Rahman, 24, urged the authorities to provide better facilities. “Our homes were torched in Myanmar. Now we are going through the same here,” he said.
Amnesty International also called on the Bangladesh government to provide safer accommodation for the refugees.
Bangladesh camp fire leaves thousands of Rohingya refugees homeless
The United Nations said that a fire that ravaged a camp at Cox’s Bazar in southeast Bangladesh has left more than 12,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees homeless.
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— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) March 7, 2023
“The government should recognise the danger of keeping large communities in unsafe, over-crowded conditions and take steps to provide adequate and safe housing to the Rohingya community,” Yasasmin Kaviratne, the organisation’s South Asia regional campaigner said.
More Rohingya refugees are leaving Bangladesh by boat for countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, risking their lives in the process due to rising criminality, challenging living conditions, and dim hopes for returning to Myanmar. 348 Rohingya are believed to have died at sea last year, according to U.N. statistics.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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