Massive fire in the Rohingya refugee camp


On Monday, March 22, a fire broke out at Cox’s Bazar camp in Bangladesh. At least dozen people was killed. Live of thousands of other was endangered

The essential infrastructure and refugee shelters were partially destroyed.

According to estimates by UNHCR and Save The Children, the Cox’s Bazar camp is inhabited by nearly 900,000 refugees. They have fled persecution in neighboring Myanmar.

ISCG (Inter Sector Coordination Group) – an international organization managing emergency aid for Rohingya in Bangladesh – reports that at least 10,000 refugee shelters have been burned down. As many as 45,000 refugees were displaced. Fire affected hospitals, distribution points, educational centers and women’s support services.

There were other incidents in the camp

The Bangladesh Red Crescent reported that it was one of the most difficult rescue operations in the history of this camp.

This fire is not the first such incident in the camp. According to the Save The Children volunteer, a few days earlier, the camp lost one of its health facilities in the fire. A similar event also took place in January this year in the Nayapara camp, which shelters about 3,500 people. At that time 550 shelters were destroyed.

Unfortunately, deadly arsons happen regularly in the history of the Rohingya exile. In 2016 and 2017, a military campaign of arson and murder was carried out against this minority in Myanmar. This campaign drew attention of the international community and the International Court of Justice to the escalation of human rights violations in that country. Violence towards Rohingya in Myanmar was in turn considered genocide.

On the photo: remaining of the refugee shelters after a fire in Nayapara refugee camp in January 2021. Photo: UNHCR Bangladesh via Twitter.com

ed. by Anna Słania – expert in national and international security, journalist. Interested in the issues of contemporary armed conflicts, terrorism and humanitarian aid in international relations. Works in the field of Peace Journalism.

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