Firefighters, the Bangladeshi Repatriation and Aid Commissioner and rescue and response teams remained on the scene on Monday night, where they continued to try to control the fire and prevent it from spreading, UNHCR said late in the afternoon. Monday, local time.
“I am deeply concerned about the impact of a terrible fire today in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh,” said Vitorino, adding that “IOM teams and partners are working together to respond to the crisis and ensure the safety and well-being of all. “
Witness images showed a large fire consuming huts and dozens of refugees fleeing on foot. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
“The fire spread so fast that before we understood what happened, it hit our home,” said Tayeba Begum, a volunteer at Save the Children who witnessed the fire. “People were screaming and running here and there. Children were also running around, crying for their family. It is the most horrible incident I have witnessed recently.”
“It is another devastating blow to the Rohingya refugees who live here. Just a few days ago, we lost one of our health centers in another fire. The risks of fires in these extremely densely populated and confined areas are enormous,” said Van Manen.
Estimates of the number of Rohingya refugees living in Cox’s Bazar range from 800,000 to more than 900,000, according to UNHCR and Save the Children.
In 2016 and 2017, the Myanmar military launched a brutal campaign of murder and arson that forced more than 740,000 people from the Rohingya minority to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, leading to a case of genocide to be heard at the International Court of Justice. In 2019, the United Nations said “serious human rights abuses” committed by the military still remained in the ethnic states of Rakhine, Chin, Shan, Kachin and Karen.
Myanmar denies the accusations of genocide and says the military’s “cleaning operations” were legitimate measures to combat terrorism.