INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
An estimated 12,000 Rohingya have been left without shelter after a fire tore through part of a cramped refugee camp in southern Bangladesh
home to more than 1 million Rohingya refugees, including 700,000 who fled their home country, Myanmar, after a brutal military crackdown in
2017.Tin Lwin, whose home was destroyed in the blaze, said the fire began at about 2.40pm on Sunday afternoon
His two young children were out playing at the time, he said, adding that it was two hours before the family was reunited
Photograph: Tanbir Miraz/AFP/Getty ImagesFires are a frequent problem in the camps, where people live in extremely cramped conditions in
flimsy, bamboo-and-tarpaulin shelters
Rohingya are also confined to the camps ringed by barbed-wire fencing, which has previously hampered attempts to flee fires and hindered the
delivery of humanitarian services.A Bangladesh defence ministry report last month said between January 2021 and December 2022, there were
At least 35 mosques and 21 learning centres for the refugees were also destroyed, though there were no reports of any injuries or deaths, he
estimated 12,000 people without shelter.Adnan bin Junaid, an Asia regional director for the International Rescue Committee, one of whose
rebuilding the camps in a safer way, with more space between shelters, as well as the provision of firefighting equipment and safety points
Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesMore than five years since the military crackdown in Myanmar, Rohingya are stuck in a state of limbo
A military coup in 2021, which plunged the country into spiralling conflict, has made the prospect of a safe return to the country a distant
prospect.Last month, the UN said it had been forced to cut food rations for Rohingya refugees by 17% as a result of dwindling international
donations.Activists have cited the increasingly desperate situation in the camps as a reason for an increase in people taking dangerous boat
journeys in an attempt to reach Indonesia and Malaysia
Almost 400 people, mostly Rohingya, are believed to have died during such journeys in 2022, according to the UNHCR, one of the deadliest
This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
