Millions of Rohingya refugees living in camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar remain at risk of landslides as heavy rains continue.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that 95 landslides occurred in Rohingya camps between 4 and 9 July. At least 15 Rohingya refugees were killed in these incidents, while 4,307 people were left homeless. A total of 26,119 people were affected in various ways.
The figures were revealed in a UNHCR press release issued on Thursday evening.
Ivo Frijssen, UNHCR representative in Bangladesh, said humanitarian agencies, in coordination with the Government of Bangladesh, are continuing emergency rescue operations, relocating refugees to safe areas and providing food, medical care, shelter and other emergency assistance.
However, with heavy to very heavy rainfall forecast until July 11, the camps remain at risk of further landslides and flash floods.
According to the latest information from the Rohingya Coordination Forum (RCP), incidents of flash floods and landslides are increasing, causing widespread damage to homes, learning centers and other key facilities in the camps.
Families of the victims are mourning
On Wednesday afternoon, five girl students died when a wall and hill collapsed at a madrasa in Block A-11 of Camp 5 in Ukhia. Eight other students of the madrassa are hospitalized with serious injuries.
Two days earlier, at least eight Rohingya refugees, including women and children, were killed in separate landslides in Jamtoli, Kutupalong and Balukhali camps.
The rising death toll has spread fear throughout the camps, with bereaved families struggling to cope with their loss.
One of the victims of the wall collapse on Wednesday was Hasim Ullah’s 13-year-old daughter Rashida Begum. He was buried in the camp cemetery the same day.
Hasim Ullah told that it was raining heavily since morning that day.
While he, his wife and three children remained at home, he took Rashida to the madrasa as usual in the morning. Later in the afternoon they got the news that he had died due to wall collapse.
Fighting back tears, she said she had enrolled her daughter in madrassa a year ago to memorize the Holy Quran, and she was only three months away from completing her Hifz.
Two other victims, 13-year-old Umme Nejatul and 12-year-old Umme Salma, were sisters and daughters of Abdus Shukur. He was also expected to complete his Hifz studies within two months.
Abdus Shukur said, “My daughters used to wake me up every morning by reciting the Quran. Now our house is filled with sorrow and we are spending sleepless nights.”
Another bereaved father, Mohammed Ilyas, said his family had fled persecution by the Myanmar military to face new threats in Bangladesh.
“We escaped the Myanmar junta, but here we live in fear of landslides during monsoons, fires in winter and gun violence by armed groups at other times,” he said.
More than 1.4 million registered Rohingya refugees currently live in 33 camps in Ukhia and Teknaf. About 800,000 people visited in the months following 25 August 2017.
Not a single Rohingya refugee has been sent back to Myanmar in the last nine years. Instead, another 152,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state over the past 18 months to escape the Arakan Army’s violence and have sought refuge in camps.
Kamrul Islam, a leader of the Rohingya community in the Balukhali camp, said the newly arrived refugees have not been allocated official shelter.
He said, initially they stay with relatives and later build temporary houses by cutting hills inside the camps, due to which the risk of landslides increases day by day.
Teknaf camps are also in danger
There are seven Rohingya camps in Teknaf, where more than 30 landslides have been reported following heavy rains, although there have been no deaths there so far.
About 200,000 Rohingya refugees live in camps in the upazila.
Khanzada Shahriyar, camp in-charge of Camps 25 and 27, said around 100 families living in high-risk areas have already been shifted to safer places, including mosques, schools, shelters and relatives’ houses.
Awareness campaigns and volunteer patrolling have also been intensified to reduce landslide hazards, he said.
Badrul Alam, chairman of the Jadimora camp management committee, said fear has spread among refugees as incessant rains have caused more landslides, although no casualties have been reported so far in the seven camps in Teknaf.