Rohingya

Massive fire in Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camps leaves 45,000 people displaced

March 25, 2021

Key Facts

Massive fires swept through the Cox’s Bazar Refugee Camps on March 22, 2021.
The damage is significant and still being assessed.
Preliminary reports say that 10,000 families (approximately 45,000 persons) were displaced.
At least 15 refugees were killed. Hundreds of others were injured.
Four camps have extensive damage. Thousands of shelters, offices, and other facilities were burned.
Oxfam’s Rapid Response Team has been deployed and worked through the night providing water to help extinguish the fire. The team also provided drinking water, hygiene kits, and emergency latrines.
Fencing around the camps impeded firefighting machinery and refugees attempts to escape the fire. • Humanitarians are urgently asking the authorities for: (1) improved phone/internet connectivity in camps, (2) to waive the restrictions on passes for NGO cars, (3) for access gates to be opened and fences taken down from roads.

A massive fire that swept through the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday has left 10,000 families—roughly 45,000 people—displaced and in urgent need of food, water, and sanitation services, Oxfam warned today. The fire was yet another devastating blow to the Rohingya people who fled shocking violence and persecution in Myanmar.

The fire started on Monday at 4pm and spread rapidly for several hours in the densely populated camps, destroying thousands of bamboo and tarpaulin shelters, until government fire and rescue services managed to control the blaze. The damage is extensive and still being assessed, but early reports suggest that 15 people were killed, and at least 560 people were injured, while hundreds remain missing.

“The worst affected areas have been reduced to ash—the only things left standing are shelter foundations and bits of household metal like pots and sewing machines. The level of destruction is unlike anything our team has seen before,” said Enamul Hoque, who leads Oxfam’s Rapid Response Team.

“We are deeply concerned for the safety and wellbeing of the 10,000 families displaced by the fire. The blaze has destroyed critical infrastructure, including water stands and sanitation facilities. Refugee families are in urgent need of food, drinking water, and safe toilet facilities.”

Oxfam’s Rohingya volunteers were the first responders, followed by the multi-agency Rapid Response Team, which deployed immediately with water trucks—on standby for such emergencies—and rushed to the camps to help extinguish the blaze. The team also transported water in jerry cans to refugees in areas that the water trucks could not reach. Barbed wire fencing around the camps impeded both refugees’ ability to escape and the Oxfam response team’s ability to provide aid in time and at scale.

“The Rapid Response team worked through the night, setting up water tankers and installing tap stands to distribute emergency drinking water. The team also provided displaced refugees with hygiene kits and emergency latrines,” said Mr Hoque. “It will take time to repair water infrastructure systems, increasing the risk of sickness, particularly as the monsoon season approaches.”

Oxfam will also work with partners to distribute soap, food, and household essentials like solar lights.

The Cox’s Bazar camps are severely crowded with roughly 40,000 people per square kilometer. The 10,000 families displaced by the fire are now taking temporary refuge in other camps which are already densely populated, further heightening the risk of an outbreak of COVID-19.

In the wake of the fire, many families and children have been separated. A top priority in the coming days will be reuniting families and monitoring the safety conditions for those who have been displaced. As we know from past experience, women and girls bear the brunt of this type of crisis—often placing themselves at risk to find means to survive. Oxfam will continue to assess gendered needs and identify immediate solutions together with other humanitarian actors.

Notes to the Editor

The Rapid Response team works in coordination with Bangladesh’s Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), the UN, and the Cox’s Bazar WASH sector.
Oxfam New Zealand has been supporting women’s leadership and access to services in the camps since 2017, with funding from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Media Contact

Jo Spratt | Communications and Advocacy Director | Wellington, New Zealand | Joanna.spratt@oxfam.org.nz | 0210664210

Nesrine Aly | Oxfam News Manager | Cairo, Egypt | nesrine.aly@oxfam.org | +201222486964 / +447503989838

Lily Partland | Senior Media Coordinator | Melbourne, Australia | lilyp@oxfam.org.au | +61 418 118 687

Oxfam warns of flood risk to Rohingya refugees as further monsoon rain forecast

July 12, 2019

Oxfam is warning that thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are in danger after almost a month’s worth of rain fell in just a week.

Cox’s Bazar is home to the world’s largest refugee camp where more than 900,000 refugees live in fragile homes built from bamboo and tarpaulin.

Elizabeth Hallinan, Oxfam’s advocacy manager in Cox’s Bazar, said: “Days of heavy rain and landslides have left homes teetering precariously on the brink of steep ravines. Roads have turned into rivers and streams run down the steep hillsides between people’s houses.

“Oxfam is rushing to reinforce and repair vital infrastructures like toilets and handpumps. Our teams of Rohingya volunteers are ensuring that the most vulnerable refugees who have been forced from their flooded homes have basic household items and are in touch with the camp authorities.”

Safwatul Haque Niloy, Oxfam’s head of public health, said: “The mega-camp is built on hilly terrain and sandy soil that cannot withstand days of heavy rain. Low-lying areas are completely waterlogged and the ground has been churned up.

“People are worried that their homes will collapse. Our immediate concern is for children, pregnant women, older people and those with disabilities who will struggle to leave their homes in these dangerous conditions.

“We have also started monitoring for outbreaks of diarrheal disease which is a risk when there is contaminated water caused by flooding.”

Notes:

According to the IOM, more than 45,000 people have been affected by weather-related incidents since the end of April, and 5,600 people have been displaced.

Bangladesh is near the beginning of monsoon season, which will last until September. Weather monitoring stations in Cox’s Bazar registered 700mm of rain in the week to Monday 8 July. Average rainfall for July in Chittagong, the province in which Cox’s Bazar is located, is 733mm.

Oxfam and its partners are providing vital aid including clean water and food to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. So far, we’ve helped more than 266,000 people. You can donate to Oxfam’s Rohingya Crisis appeal here.

Race against time for Rohingya refugees as monsoon rains, flooding and landslides continue

June 18, 2018

While 5000 Kiwis take part in Oxfam’s Ration Challenge in support of refugees this World Refugee Week, Rohingya refugees are facing life-threatening rains and disease as monsoon rains continue to lash the camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

There have been over 130 landslides, 3,300 damaged shelters and 28,000 Rohingya refugees affected as monsoon rains continue to fall, Oxfam said today.

A survey of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh carried out by Oxfam before the start of the monsoon season found that more than half were almost completely unprepared for the floods, landslides and disease that accompany the monsoon weather, with women most at risk.

Gabriela Luz-Meillet, Oxfam’s Humanitarian Programme Coordinator in Bangladesh, said:

“The monsoon rains are causing flooding, landslides and disease outbreaks in the Rohingya refugee camps. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in temporary shelters, on hills of compacted mud which are completely shorn of protective trees and plants. Those hills could melt into the earth. There are refugees alive today who will not make it through to the end of the rainy season.

“Oxfam is working with the government of Bangladesh and the United Nations to relocate refugees to safer areas and to make the remaining areas as weather-proof as possible. It is a race against time. We are doing what we can but there aren’t enough safe areas for all the refugees who need to move, so it is vital those who remain in danger know what to do in an emergency.”

Luz-Meillet said refugees could anticipate and prepare for the severe impacts of a monsoon in their homes in Myanmar. However now they had fled to Bangladesh they were struggling to deal with the weather.

“Most of the refugees come from small villages where they know how to deal with extreme weather. But now they are living in a huge tent city, disorientated and scared, and they are telling us that they lack the knowledge and resources to survive in this strange new environment. Women are in greater danger than men. They are frequently confined to their homes and do not know how to find shelter or to get help.

“We need to ensure that refugees get the information and resources that they need so they can deal with the bad weather and its consequences. Everyone working on the response needs to consult refugees so they can feel in control of their own lives. Everyone working in the camps is doing their best but we need to make sure that this response meets both the needs of the Rohingya and international humanitarian standards. Work on the ground should be matched by diplomatic efforts by the governments of Bangladesh, Myanmar and others to find long-term solutions for the Rohingya people. We cannot allow these people to endure another monsoon in these dangerous conditions in the camp.”

Oxfam New Zealand’s executive director Rachael Le Mesurier said urgent help was needed to reach the most vulnerable people before the situation worsens. “It’s heart-breaking to see people who have already been through so much – fleeing terrible violence, losing their homes, seeing family members killed – now facing even further hardship as extreme weather threatens their lives, families and homes once again.

“There is a high chance that without urgent assistance, some of these vulnerable people will not survive the next few months.”

Oxfam surveyed residents of the refugee camps in Bangladesh and found that 59% of women and 53% of men do not know how to ensure the safety and security of their families during and after a disaster.

Only around a quarter of refugees surveyed know where the nearest shelter is in case of a cyclone warning, with two thirds of women unaware of its location. Amongst men, 38% of men do not know the whereabouts of a shelter and 34% say there is no shelter.

Oxfam also ran a series of focus groups. All the groups told researchers that their shelters will be unable to withstand the rains, were concerned they couldn’t stockpile food and firewood, and felt reliant on aid agencies. Many thought they would be cut off by the rains and unable to access help, and the female groups feared struggling to feed their families should this occur.

Since last August a camp the size of a small city has been created from scratch, and the scale of the crisis has meant that resources have been mostly focused on the day-to-day efforts needed to supply nearly a million people with food, water, shelter and other life-saving goods.

A total of 200,000 out of over 900,000 refugees are categorised as at risk from flooding and landslides, with around 24,000 of those considered at high risk. So far nearly 25,000 refugees have been relocated to freshly prepared, flattened ground that should be safe from landslides and flooding.

/ends

Notes to editors:

The figures for landslides, damaged shelters and refugees affected are correct as of 15 June 2018.

Oxfam surveyed 383 refugees and 482 households in in the two main refugee areas of Ukhia and Teknaf, giving a 5% margin of error. Oxfam ran a series of focus groups and key informant interviews in Unchiprang and Nayapara camps in April 2018, consulting 109 refugees, of which 46% were women.

Currently Oxfam has provided vital aid to at least 240,000 people and is planning to reach 300,000. It has helped people stay healthy by installing water points, toilets and showers, distributing soap, and talking about good hygiene. Oxfam has installed a sewage facility for 50,000 people, which will rise to 100,000. To help local communities cope with water shortages, it is providing an average of 300,000 litres of chlorinated water daily in the Teknaf area.

Oxfam has provided 23,000 households with vouchers that can be exchanged at local markets for nutritious vegetables and ingredients to supplement their basic rations – including spinach, eggs, dried fish and spices.

Oxfam has a team of 125 staff and more than 1000 community-based volunteers in Cox’s Bazar working hard to provide emergency aid in a $25 million response. This is currently Oxfam’s third biggest humanitarian program, after Yemen and Ethiopia.

The Ration Challenge is a fundraising challenge that shows refugees Kiwis are with them, not against them, by living off the same food rations as a refugee would in Syria for one week. Participants fundraise and the money goes towards supporting those very refugees in Syria as well as Oxfam’s work around the world. It is occurring for the first time in New Zealand this World Refugee Week and so far over 5300 participants have raised almost $500,000.

Donations to Oxfam’s Rohingya refugee crisis appeal can be made at www.oxfam.org.nz.

Photo: Zaheda*, a Rohingya woman living in a Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, attempts to secure her home as well as possible against the extreme weather. Credit: Oxfam New Zealand

Rohingya refugees: Finding hope amongst the hopelessness

May 22, 2018

Life in the Rohingya Refugee Camps.

The impending monsoon rains are bearing down on the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh and there’s no getting around it – it’s going to be a really tough time.

I’ve just finished three weeks working for Oxfam’s Rohingya crisis response team in Cox’s Bazar and can remember one moment, standing in the pouring rain in the Rohingya refugee ‘mega-camp’. Everywhere I looked, ramshackle shelters made of bamboo and tarpaulins stretched into the distance.

People old and young were trying to find shelter from the downpour, and large puddles were quickly forming across the narrow brick road, with water running down sandy hillside paths.

As I was trying to take photos of a deep tube well Oxfam was drilling to provide clean water, numerous Rohingya refugees offered to take me into their shelters to stay dry, or brought me umbrellas. Such was the kindness of people who had endured unspeakable horrors that forced them from Myanmar into neighbouring Bangladesh.

[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SrGDqWBDA8″ /]

The camps are experiencing what they call the ‘pre-monsoon rains’ at the moment, where every couple of days a ferocious storm will hit for an hour or so. This rain is nothing like I’m used to.

The falling water has an almost physical quality, beating down on you, and the rain can be so heavy you struggle to see the other side of a road.

Trees are often blown over in the wind, and almost immediately, huge puddles form everywhere, slowing cars and trucks on the sandy, brick roads and draining into refugees’ flimsy shelters.

[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay6yK3rgjV4″ /]

It’s estimated that more than 600,000 people are living in the Rohingya refugee mega-camp alone – a population almost the size of Wellington, Dunedin and Hamilton combined.

The impact of the full monsoon on this many people in such desperate living conditions is what’s top of mind for aid workers. Yet despite this, I was struck by the way in which Rohingya refugees could find hope in what appeared to be a hopeless situation. They are denied citizenship in their country – they feel they have nowhere they belong and have nowhere to call home right now. No-one knows what their future holds.

They’re awaiting monsoon rains likely to bring floods, landslides and potentially deadly water-borne diseases. The United Nations (UN) estimates up to 200,000 people are living in at-risk areas of the camps.

[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-j2PmmDt-A” /]

As much as 2.5 metres of rain could fall on the camps over the next three months. But, the refugees I met certainly weren’t hopeless or despairing.

Parents were working hard to strengthen their shelters or volunteering for charities like Oxfam as community health trainers or with the UN as camp labourers helping prepare the camps for the coming heavy rain.

Among them was a young woman I met called Ayesha*, who was 18 years old. She fled to Bangladesh with her mother and three siblings after their father was killed in the violence in Myanmar.

It took them nearly 5 days to get to Bangladesh by boat and foot; others weren’t so lucky and drowned when their boats sank.

Life is tough in the camps without a father or husband – women can get missed or sidelined at aid distributions, and culturally, young women are not supposed to go out alone.

But none of this had dampened Ayesha’s spirit. She put up her hand to volunteer and now runs community health training sessions with her neighbours and other women.

She told me, “Now I work as an Oxfam volunteer, I teach people how to maintain good hygiene and I tell people what to do to have a good life. I feel good about it”.

As for the children, they played football wherever they could find space, and ran through the camps in happy bunches and practised English with aid workers – “goodbye, how are you, I am fine.”

*name changed to protect identity

Written by Dylan Quinnell, Senior Media Coordinator at Oxfam Australia.

Women helping women survive and thrive in Bangladesh refugee camps

April 10, 2018

Blog written by AJM Zobaidur Rahman, Campaigns and Communications Officer, Oxfam in Bangladesh.

Photo: Maruf Hasan/Oxfam

Women helping women survive and thrive.

Rajiah, 46, fled violence near her home in Myanmar six months ago with her 15-year-old daughter. She is now living in a refugee camp in Bangladesh.

Rajiah is one of close to a million Rohingya people who have fled violence in Myanmar to seek refuge across the border in Bangladesh. This unprecedented number of refugees, of whom more than half are children, has caused a large-scale humanitarian crisis.

Rajiah has been surrounded by women throughout her life as the eldest of 10 sisters. She herself has five daughters, two of which are also in camps living as refugees in Bangladesh with their husbands, while the other two remain in Myanmar. Tragically, Rajiah’s husband disappeared when the violence broke out in Myanmar and Rajiah has no way of knowing where he is. Like so many women in the camp, Rajiah must head up her household alone.

Oxfam has come to know Rajiah as a leader when she was unanimously selected to represent her community during an Oxfam assessment of what their most pressing needs were. Rajiah is well educated and has been working with and for her community throughout her life. She told us that she delivered some 10,000 babies as a midwife in Myanmar.

Now, as a refugee in Bangladesh, she is making sure she puts her experience to good use and supports and provides information to the pregnant women in her community. Her name means “hope” – a true reflection of her personality and life’s work.

Rajiah brings leadership to Cox’s Bazar

Rajiah was born in a relatively affluent family in Myanmar. Education was an important part of her childhood, and her family made sure all the girls had eight years of schooling. Rajiah speaks particularly highly of her father, who she says was the greatest influence in her life.

Rajiah honed her leadership skills from a young age, starting at school as a class leader. Later, organisations who were working in her community, including the UN, selected Rajiah as one of their volunteers. She continued working as a health worker and played a major role in the vaccination process in her area, helping to prevent children dying needlessly from preventable illnesses.

Rajiah is outspoken and confident, a full believer in women’s roles outside the household. That way, she says, women can get knowledge and they can advance – and then other women can also come forward simply by seeing these role models. She is very keen on working and further helping her community, especially the women in her community.

Rajiah shares health information with a pregnant woman in her home in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Photo: Maruf Hasan/Oxfam

Oxfam is there

Oxfam is planning to organise women’s groups in the camps and Rajiah is the ideal person to lead this process in her community. With her leadership skills, kind and warm personality, she will undoubtedly make great progress with the women in the community.

Oxfam is also currently focusing on providing water and sanitation and adapting to better deal with the crowded conditions and sheer numbers of people. We are drilling wells and installing water points, toilets and showers.

We’re also helping people stay healthy and hygienic by distributing soap and other essentials and working with community-based volunteers to emphasise the importance of clean water and good hygiene, especially as monsoon season approaches.

So far, we have reached at least 185,000 people, and hope to reach more than 250,000 in the coming months.

Your support has been vital in this effort – thank you.

Rajiah on her rounds, walking through the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Photo: Maruf Hasan/Oxfam