Bangladesh: Rains wreak havoc at Rohingya camps

Rains in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar have wreaked havoc at the Rohingya camps, leading to an increase in waterborne diseases and damaging infrastructure in the area.

Humanitarian agencies in the region are still figuring out where to relocate these refugees who are living in the areas which are at the risk of landslides.

According to the Inter-Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) weekly situation report for June 14-21, the monsoon rains brought 95mm of rainfall, Dhaka Tribune reported.
In totality, 116 shelters have been damaged in the reporting period.

Over 700 people were affected by the rains, of which 55 people were affected by landslides, 234 by floods, 425 by wind and storms, and 13 by water logging. In total, 727 people were affected, the ISCG report stated.

A total number of 3,303 shelters, 22 water points, 300 latrines and one health facility have been damaged since May 11, while 14 health facilities were temporarily closed during the downpour.

In addition, 215,000 refugees are living in areas at risk of landslides, with 42,000 in the highest risk areas.

At least 32,000 refugees were relocated by June 17. The Bangladesh government plans to further relocate 3,500 others by the end of the month.

Rohingyas are a Muslim minority ethnic group in Myanmar and are considered to be illegal immigrants.

More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees are languishing in Bangladeshi refugee camps, after fleeing a brutal Myanmar army campaign launched in August last year.

The United Nations had earlier said the scorched-earth operation, which had left hundreds of villages burned to ash in Myanmar's Rakhine state, amounted to 'ethnic cleansing'.

(ANI)