Immediate Assistance Needed as Fire Devastates Rohingya Camp in Bangladesh

March 22, 2021

Please see below statement from Refugees International:

“Refugees International is deeply saddened by the devastating fire that has destroyed a large part of the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.

With at least 50,000 people displaced and an unknown number killed, the true extent of the damage may not be known for some time. Bangladeshi officials and humanitarian workers in the camps will need to prioritize provision of new shelters and services for Rohingya now displaced within the camps, as well as the reunification of the many children reportedly separated from their families in the chaos.

One Rohingya refugee told us today that the tragedy of the fire felt like reliving the devastation the Rohingya experienced in Myanmar in 2017. Many children are missing, and some were unable to flee because of barbed-wire set up in the camps.

This tragedy is an awful reminder of the vulnerable position of Rohingya refugees who are caught between increasingly precarious conditions in Bangladesh and the reality of a homeland now ruled by the military responsible for the genocide that forced them to flee.

Even as long-term solutions remain elusive, the government of Bangladesh – assisted by international donors and humanitarian actors – must sustain assistance and seek to improve conditions as long as Rohingya refugees are forced to remain in exile.”

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Refugees International Director of Communications Sarah Sheffer at ssheffer@refugeesinternational.org.

Photo Caption: People are seen after a huge fire broken out in the Balukhali Rohingya camp in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh on March 22, 2021. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)