30 host communities along the periphery of the camp were also affected by the fire

Rohingya refugee camps hit by second fire in 10 days ,Leaving thousands homeless

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Cox Gazette January 10, 2022, 06:38 PM

A massive fire broke out just before 5 pm yesterday, sweeping through a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. The flames were contained to one area, Camp 16, but the damage was extensive. About  4000 Rohingya refugees have lost their homes, with almost 800 households has been affected according to the Aid working group assessment. Two people were reported to be injured. Besides the Refugee community around 30 host communities along the periphery of the camp were also affected by the fire. A large TIKA (Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency) warehouse in Camp 16 was gutted; damages to other facilities are being assessed. Around 500 shelters have been partially damaged in the lower part of Camp 16.

 

"This is the second fire in the camps in 2022 and we are only in the second week of January. Our fear is not only about what happened this time, but that future fires will cause even greater destruction and cost lives. We need to provide safe, dignified shelter for refugees using fire-retardant material, and the dangerous barbed wire fencing should be removed that divides the camps and slows the escape of people fleeing the flames," said Roberto Vila-Sexto, the Norwegian Refugee Council's (NRC) Country Director in Bangladesh.

The origin of yesterday's fire is unknown at this stage. However, the only temporary shelters that are allowed in the camps in Bangladesh are those made of highly flammable bamboo and tarpaulin. Refugees told NRC teams on the ground that they had to cut through the wire fencing to escape from the fire. In overcrowded settlements fenced in by barbed wire, the risk of the next disaster is always high.

Asma, a single refugee mother of three living in the camps, barely escaped with her children and had to spend the night under the open winter sky. "Everything is gone, we barely escaped with only the clothes on our back," she said.