KUTUPALONG – Bangladesh has evacuated 10,000 Rohingya from around refugee camps on the Myanmar border after monsoon landslides and flash floods killed at least 14 people, said officials today.
After three days of torrential rain, the refugees, most of whom fled a military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017, were moved from hilly slopes around the Balukhali camp in Cox’s Bazar, said refugee commissioner Shah Rezwan Hayat.
Tens of thousands of Rohingya who could not find room in the camps have cleared forests on the surrounding hills and set up shelters that have since been met with landslides every monsoon season.
“We have brought some 10,000 Rohingya to safe places after their shelters were hit by heavy rain and landslides,” Hayat told AFP.
At least six Rohingya are among the dead, with several others injured, said officials.
The other dead are local villagers whose homes were buried.
Cox’s Bazar district, where more than 850,000 Rohingya refugees are packed into 34 camps, has recorded more than 27cm of rain since Monday, according to weather authorities.
About 7,000 local people outside the camps have also been moved to safety, said officials.
The United Nations refugee agency said 2,500 shelters housing 12,000 Rohingya have been affected by the floods.
“We are also aware of damage to facilities including health centres,” said Hannah Macdonald, a UN spokesman.
Aid workers said a coronavirus lockdown in the camps, following a major spike in cases, has affected rescue work as authorities halt what they consider non-essential visits.
About 740,000 Rohingya fled Rakhine state in Myanmar after security forces launched a clampdown in 2017 that the UN said may amount to genocide.
Last month, two Rohingya refugees were killed in separate landslides during heavy rain. – AFP, July 28, 2021
