Fire leaves 1,200 Rohingya homeless in Bangladesh camps

DHAKA:

A large fire on Saturday burned hundreds of shelters, shops and other facilities in refugee camps on Bangladesh’s southeastern coast, leaving 1,200 Rohingya homeless.

The fire started from Rohingya Camp No. 13 of Ukhiya of Cox’s Bazar.

Firefighters brought the fire under control and doused it completely, Deputy Assistant Director of Cox’s Bazar Fire Department Atish Chakma confirmed. Anatolia.

The fire is mainly believed to have been an act of arson from a shop in the camp, Bangladesh Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Mizanur Rahman told Anadolu.

“There are a number of factions among the Rohingya in the camps for the establishment of power and they have been found involved in such crimes in the past. Additionally, the overcrowded conditions and constructed components of the shelter could help the fire spread quickly,” he added.

However, we are still investigating the fire incident to understand the real facts, he added.

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A total of 175 shelters, 40 shops, a learning center and an Islamic school were destroyed in the fire, while 50 shelters, 30 toilets and 15 shower cubicles were destroyed or damaged, according to the refugee office in southeastern Cox’s Bazar.

The fire also left 1,200 people homeless and injured three others.

On May 24, another fire had destroyed about 300 houses in the same camp.

“We have assessed the consequences of the incident and are working to provide shelter and support to the people affected,” the commissioner added.

Bangladesh said about 1.3 million Rohingya live in the South Asian country.

The majority of Rohingya fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine in 2017. Most of them are housed in overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar, but as of late 2020, some 35,000 have been relocated to Bhasan Char Island.