Staff Reporter :
At least eight Rohingyas out of 10 people were killed by the landslides after heavy rainfall at different shelter houses of Ukhia in Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday night.
Heavy rainfall, landslides, cyclonic storms and fire round the year are continuously endangering the lives of Rohingyas, with many fatalities occurring due to landslides as their makeshift shelters are situated on the flanks of the hills in Cox’s Bazar.
The Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) on Wednesday confirmed that among the deaths two were local residents.
RRRC Md Mizanur Rahman told the media that the incidents of landslides had occurred in Camp No. 1, 8, 9, 10 and 14 in Ukhia between Tuesday midnight and Wednesday morning. The victims were reportedly sleeping when the tragic incident of landslides occurred.
He further said that the recue team including the firefighters has recovered nine bodies so far and the rescue operation was continuing.
The RRRC sources said that in the incident at landslide, one person died in camp no 1, two individuals from Camp No. 8, two from Camp No. 9, four from the same family in Camp No. 10, and one person in Camp No. 14 have died.
The deceased in Camp No. 10 were identified as Abu Meher (25), Shahana (22), Abul Kalam (50), and Selima Khatun (45).
The deceased in Camp No. 9 were Mohammad Hossain (50) and Anwara Begum (18).
RRRC Mizanur Rahman could not confirm the names of the deceased in Camps No. 8 and 14.
It has been learned that a local Bangladeshi student is among the deceased in Camp No. 8. The identity of the other Bangladeshi is unknown.
Amir Jafar, the commander of the 8th Armed Police Battalion (APBN), stated that among the deceased were two Bangladeshi citizens and the other seven were Rohingyas. Fire service is prioritizing recovery efforts.
Additionally, early this morning, it was reported that a local student named Abdul Karim (12) from Ukhiya’s Camp No. 8 of the Rohingya shelter camps died due to a landslide.
Chairman of Palongkhali Union Parishad MA Gafur Uddin Chowdhury confirmed it to the media.
However, RRRC has not yet confirmed this matter. The deceased Abdul Karim was the son of Shah Alam from Thaingkhali Ward No. 4 in Ukhiya. He was a student of class six at Thaingkhali High School.
Whenever heavy rainfall or cyclonic storm passes over the Rohingya camps where 1.3 million Rohingyas are sheltered it since 2017, the Rohingyas suffer the worst as these houses were not well-built to resist strong winds and storms.
On 14 May 2023, Cyclone Mocha slammed into the coastal regions near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border when nearly 40,000 Rohingya refugees saw their bamboo and tarpaulin shelters damaged or destroyed.
Access to clean drinking water and essential Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities was severely compromised.
Moreover, critical facilities including education, nutrition, and protection services suffered significant damage across all 33 Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and nearby Bangladeshi communities.
In 2017, Cyclone Mora destroyed thousands of makeshift homes while Cyclone Sitrang in 2022 affected 33,000 refugees.
According to International Organization for Migration (IOM), 50,000 shelters are vulnerable to landslides, and more than 7,000 individuals are at risk of flooding.
Frequent fire incidents in the camps are another man-made disaster that claims lives and the remnants belongings of the Rohingyas. It is reported that more than 300 fire incidents occurred in Rohingya camps since 2017.
The vulnerabilities of the Rohingyas are intensifying with the passage of time as these people are leading a life of hardship after being displaced from their homeland in Myanmar due to the atrocities committed by the Myanmar Army which UN termed “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”
The international communities are talking about sustainable and voluntary repatriation of the Rohingyas, but since 2017, not a single Rohingyas was repatriated.
Different reports said that the humanitarian crisis of the Rohingya Muslims is deepening further here in Bangladesh due to natural and man-made disasters and other criminal activities spawning in the camps.