Bangladesh fire in Rohingya refugee camp leaves 12,000 homeless
A huge fire raced through a densely populated camp for Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh Sunday, displacing thousands.
The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said 2,000 shelters had been damaged or destroyed, and 90 facilities, including hospitals and learning centers, had been torched.
No one was killed or injured at the Balukhali camp in the Cox’s Bazar district, a U.N. fire official said. The victims were “12,000 Rohingya refugees who lost everything again,” the UNCHR said.
The blaze easily scorched structures made primarily of bamboo and tarpaulin, even though it was brought under control within three hours, BBC News reported.
The camp is home to more than 1 million Rohingya refugees who, over several decades, have fled to Bangladesh from persecution in Myanmar. Approximately 740,000 have crossed over since a brutal crackdown by the Myanmar military starting in 2017.
The U.S. has branded the treatment of Rohingya in Myanmar as genocide.
With News Wire Services