Massive fire consumes Rohingya camps in Coz Bazar

Thousands of Rohingya refugees in Cox Bazar, southern Bangladesh were left homeless after the camp fire.

At least 2000 makeshift dwellings were gutted in fire at the refugees’ camp in Cox Bazar & 12,000 refugees were left homeless & forcibly displaced.

‘It is likely that this fire was incidental, as even the refugees themselves didn’t report any suspicions about outside factors, said Defence analayst Capt.UK Devnath.

Devnath stated that the local population of south-eastern Bangladesh despises Rohingyas and that Bangladeshi Bengalis will not accept them as refugees. ‘Despite being Sunni Muslims, these two groups continue to be extremists due to their distinct religious practices’

Official reports say that no one was hurt, but the fire destroyed 2,000 shelters after quickly spreading through gas cylinders in kitchens.

According to a report from the Bangladesh defense ministry that was made public last month, there were 222 fire incidents in the Rohingya camps between January 2021 and December 2022, 60 of which involved arson.

After a massive fire destroyed a camp in the settlement in March 2021, at least 15 people were killed and approximately 50,000 people were forced from their homes. People who fled Myanmar after the military cracked down on the Rohingya ethnic minority live in the refugee camp.

International response

Devnath stated that the international community must assist the Rohingya because more than one million Rohingya refugees are currently residing in Bangladesh. The international community must assist them to provide them with some form of solace so that they can lead dignified lives.

‘Sadly, only a small number of them made it to India, but the Indian government decided that they were illegal migrants and detained a few thousand of them and sent a few hundred of them back to Bangladesh. Difficulty comes from the fact that Bangladesh has officially declared its independence despite intense pressure from the international human resource convention,’ he added

The INHRC that Bangladesh should accommodate them with certain amount of human touch but Bangladesh govt has repeatedly said that they do not have the resources and whether to look after such a huge number of Rohingya’s in Bangladesh.

UNHRC intervention

UNHCR has been rushing to provide critical assistance and protection to approximately 48,000 Rohingya refugees, who lost their shelters and belongings in the devastating fire, as part of the inter-agency response, focusing on the following areas of intervention, according to the UNHRC report.