luc, CNBC Indonesia
Sunday, 01/07/2024 17:45 IWST
Photo: A large fire hit a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh on Sunday (5/3/2023). As a result, around 12,000 Rohingya refugees were displaced because they had no place to live. (AP/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – About 4,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh were left homeless after a suspected arson attack destroyed their camp and torched nearly 800 homes.
Bangladesh is home to around one million Rohingya, many of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown on the Muslim minority in neighboring Myanmar who is now the target of a UN genocide investigation.
Flames tore through a densely packed complex of bamboo and tarpaulin shelters early Sunday at a camp in the country’s southeast, refugee commissioner Mizanur Rahman said.
“At least 711 shelters were completely burned and 63 were partially damaged,” said Rahman, adding that five educational centers and two mosques were also destroyed, as quoted by AFP, Sunday (7/1/2024).
He said the fire left 4,000 people homeless. According to him, there was no coincidence, and the fire was under control.
“We have ordered an investigation into the fire,” he added. “We suspect this was an act of arson.”
The UN refugee agency said a “massive fire damaged many refugee shelters”, adding that it was “supporting the affected people”.
Fires in dozens of Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh often occur, especially during the dry season from November to April.
However, many of the camps are also divided by violence between rival Rohingya groups.
Police say security in the camps has worsened, with more than 60 refugees killed in turf wars and drug-related clashes last year, the highest number ever recorded.
In March 2023, a fire in Kutupalong camp – one of the world’s largest refugee settlements – destroyed 2,000 shelters.
Two years earlier, at least 15 Rohingya were killed and another 50,000 refugees were left homeless after a fire in the same camp.
Watch the video below:
Video: Train in Bangladesh Burned Ahead of Election, 4 People Killed
(luc/luc)
2024-01-07 10:45:00
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