UN comes to aid of Rohingya amid recurring fire incidents in Bangladesh

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – The UN refugee agency has donated 29 mobile firefighting units to strengthen the fire safety measures for over one million Rohingya in Bangladesh's congested camps, according to a statement.

“UNHCR donated and handed over 29 mobile firefighting units to IOM (International Organization for Migration) camps to harmonize fire preparedness across all the 33 (Rohingya) camps,” said a statement issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Bangladesh office on Wednesday.

Currently, more than 1.2 million Rohingya are living in squalid makeshift tents divided into 33 camps in Bangladesh's southern border district of Cox's Bazar, turning the settlements into the world's largest refugee camp.

The UN refugee agency mobilized the support weeks after the persecuted people experienced a devastating fire on March 5 that gutted over 2,000 tents, leaving nearly 16,000 refugees homeless.

According to the latest information from the Rohingya refugee camps, the fire victims are still struggling to rebuild their shelters.

Since the Rohingya exodus in August 2017 to Bangladesh, dozens of massive fires in Rohingya camps have reportedly destroyed thousands of tents, killing dozens of refugees and rendering thousands homeless.

Earlier, in March 2021, a massive fire resulted in the loss of at least 15 lives, displaced 45,000 Rohingya refugees, and caused significant damage to the refugee camp.