Shelters being built in bangladesh rohingya camp after fire kills 15

Shelters being built in bangladesh rohingya camp after fire kills 15

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The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said more than 10,000 families lost their homes. The fire also destroyed dozens of learning centers for children, clinics, markets and aid


distribution centers. On Wednesday, different aid agencies supplied construction materials such as bamboo, rope, polythene, and corrugated tin sheets for rebuilding the shelters, officials


said. But the devastation was widespread and it could take a while to rebuild what was destroyed. In addition to razing the homes of 10,000 families, the fire destroyed the area’s


infrastructure, hospital, food centers, markets, schools and health clinics, according to Manuel Marques Pereira, IOMs deputy chief of mission in Bangladesh. “And it will take several months


to put everything back to the level that it was prior to the fire, Pereira said. He said easy access points for emergency services were important to avoid the loss of lives in the event of


such disasters. The concerns over the capacity of the refugees to escape from the fire is a topic that needs to be linked with the congestion on the camps, and the shape of the camps, and


the capacity of people to move in the camps, Pereira said. Its very important that there are access points for the emergency services and for the individuals to leave a certain area, he


said. Also on Wednesday, Bangladeshs Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan visited the camps to assess the situation. Khan said they ordered an investigation to see if it was a sabotage. I want to


express our deepest sorrow for the people who have been affected by the fire, he said while speaking to journalists after his visit. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Tuesday


rescuers recovered at least 15 charred bodies from the debris while at least 400 people were still missing and around 560 were injured by the fire. Around 45,000 people were displaced by the


fire, which broke out Monday afternoon and burned well into the night, the UNHCR said. The U.N.s World Food Program in a situation report said Tuesday many affected people took refuge in


nearby camps, at friends shelters, learning centers for children or temporary transit sites. Mondays massive fire came just months ahead of Bangladeshs monsoon season, when cyclones and


heavy rains between June and October batter the region and often lead to floods. In January, another fire destroyed hundreds of shanty-like homes in the camp, leaving thousands without


shelter. Bangladesh has sheltered more than a million Rohingya Muslims, the vast majority having fled Myanmar in 2017 in a major crackdown by that country’s military. Advertisement The U.N.


has said the crackdown had a genocidal intent, a charge Myanmar rejects. Bangladesh has hosted the refugees in crowded refugee camps and is eager to begin sending them back to the


Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Several attempts at repatriation under a joint agreement failed because the Rohingya refused to go, fearing more violence in a country that denies them basic


rights including citizenship.