The fire raged for three hours. In addition to the refugees’ homes, the fire destroyed dozens of mosques and schools.
Refugees of the Rohingya people who fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh were once again hit by a huge fire.
There is no information about the cause of the fire in the cramped refugee camp. Once broken loose, the fire spread for three hours until it was brought under control.
The area known as Camp 11 in Cox’s Bazar was destroyed. Cox’s Bazar as a whole is considered the largest refugee camp in the world.
More than a million refugees live in Bangladesh, most of whom had to flee a military coup in Myanmar five years ago.
Thousands of people living in temporary housing lost their little shelter and possessions.
At least 12,000 residents of the refugee camp were now completely homeless. There is no information on the casualties so far.
Along with the homes, 35 mosques and twenty school buildings were also destroyed.
Fires torment the cramped camps
Two years ago, a fire in a refugee camp killed at least 15 people and left tens of thousands homeless.
Fires in Rohingya camps are common. According to the Ministry of Defense of Bangladesh, there were 222 incidents in 2021-2022, more than a third of which were arson.
Already five years ago, 1.1 million Rohingya fled to Bangladesh, who had been forced to leave due to attacks by the Myanmar army.
The Muslim Rohingya minority had been living in closed camps in Myanmar. The UN considers the persecution of the Rohingya population a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.
The military coup that took place in Myanmar two years ago made the conditions of the Rohingya minority even more difficult.