Bangladesh Forms A Committee to Investigate Rohingya Camp Fires

Dhaka, MINA – The Bangladeshi authorities formed a Committee of seven members to investigate the exact cause of the fire that occurred in the Rohingya refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar.

“The committee was asked to submit a report within three days,” said Commissioner for Refugee Assistance and Repatriation, Mizanur Rahman. Arab News reported, Monday. A fire in a Rohingya refugee camp left 12,000 people homeless. But so far no casualties have been reported,” Rahman said.

The fire broke out Sunday afternoon, in a southeastern coastal district and the world’s largest refugee settlement, which is home to some 1.2 million Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence in Myanmar.

The blaze engulfed the Kutupalong and Balukhali camps, scorching some 2,000 refugee dwellings, before they were brought under control late Sunday.

Rahman said work on restoring the shelter had started. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has also distributed housing materials for refugees to rebuild their homes.

The United Nations Children’s Fund estimates that half of the refugees affected by the fires are children.

Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh said critical education and health infrastructure was destroyed by fire. This includes 20 learning centres, one nutrition centre, and several sanitation facilities.

Atish Chakma, Deputy Assistant Director of the Fire Service and Civil Defense Department at Cox’s Bazar, said the fire hazard in the area was high due to overcrowding, flammable shelters, and lack of water to quickly extinguish the fires.

“The Rohingya camps are very dense, and the makeshift houses are being built side by side, there is no distance between them,” he said.

In addition, the plastic material used to build the shelter is highly flammable. So, every time there is a fire in one house, it quickly spreads,” he continued.

“There is a huge scarcity of water within the camp. For this reason, our firefighters face difficulties when extinguishing the fire,” he added.

Between January 2021 and December 2022, at least 222 fire incidents were recorded in the shelters, according to Bangladesh Ministry of Defense data.

In 2021, 15 refugees died and more than 50,000 were displaced after a massive blaze spread across the camp. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)