Rohingya Muslim Refugee Camp Gets Burned, Bangladesh Government Holds Investigation

Illustration of a Rohingya refugee camp. (Wikipedia Commons/Captain Raju)

JAKARTA - Bangladesh has begun investigating the causes of a large fire that killed several people in a Muslim Rohingya refugee camp. Authorities rushed through the debris from the fire on Tuesday, March 23.

The Balukhali campfire which houses Rohingya Muslim refugees in Cox's Bazar broke out on Monday night. Witnesses said a number of people died in the fires that left many Rohingya Muslim refugees without shelter.

Witnesses said the barbed wire fence around the camp trapped many people, causing several fatalities. Meanwhile, a number of international humanitarian organizations asked the refugees to be moved.

"The cause of the fire is still unknown. The authorities are investigating to determine the cause of the fire", said senior Bangladesh police official Zakir Hossain Khan.

Humanitarian organization Refugees International estimates 50.000 people have taken refuge in overcrowded camps hosting more than one million Rohingya refugees.

"Many children are missing, and some are unable to escape because of the barbed wire installed in the camp", he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, John Quinley of Fortify Rights said he had heard of similar reports, adding the fence had hindered the distribution of humanitarian aid and vital services in camps in the past.

"The government must remove the fence and protect the refugees. There have now been a number of major fires in the camps, including a major fire in January this year. The authorities must carry out a proper investigation into the cause of the fire", Quinley said in a statement.

To note, most of the refugee camp people fled Myanmar in 2017 amid a military-led crackdown on the Rohingya. UN investigators have called it genocidal "intent", an accusation Myanmar denies.

FYI, massive fires swept through Rohingya refugee camps in southern Bangladesh on Monday, destroying thousands of homes and killing several people, officials and eyewitnesses said, in the worst flames to hit settlements in recent years.

"Firefighters, rescue and response teams and volunteers were on the scene trying to control the fire and prevent it from spreading further", said Louise Donovan, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency UNHCR in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.