Blazing inferno: Fire engulfing a Rohingya refugee camp at Kutupalong in Cox’s Bazar district. Authorities have ordered an investigation into the fire which they believe is an arson attack. — AP
Some 4,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have been left without shelter after a suspected arson attack ripped through their camp burning nearly 800 homes, an official said.
Bangladesh is home to around a million Rohingya, many of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown on the mainly Muslim minority in neighbouring Myanmar that is now subject to a UN genocide probe.
The blaze tore through the tightly packed complex of bamboo and tarpaulin shelters in the early hours of yesterday morning at a camp in the country’s southeast, refugee commissioner Mizanur Rahman said.
“At least 711 shelters were fully burnt and 63 were partially damaged,” he said, adding that five education centres and two mosques were also destroyed.
He said the fire made 4,000 people homeless, adding that there were no casualties, and the fire had been brought under control.
“We have ordered a probe into the fire,” he added. “We suspect it is an act of arson.”
The UN refugee agency said the “large fire damaged many refugee shelters”, adding it was “supporting people affected”.
Fires in the dozens of Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh are common, especially during the dry season from November to April.
But many of the camps are also riven by violence between rival Rohingya groups. — AFP
