A massive fire broke out at a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh on Tuesday, March 23. According to the United Nations (UN) provisional figures, 15 people have died and 400 are missing.

“What we saw through this fire was something we had never seen before. It is huge and destructive ”, Johannes van der Klov, head of the High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangladesh, ressed. “This is the largest fire since the Rohingya floods in August 2017.”Shamsud Dosa, deputy commissioner for refugees, said. Currently, the temporary toll has injured 560 people, left 400 missing and displaced 45,000. Tens of thousands of temporary shelters are said to have been reduced to ashes.

The International Office for Migration (IOM) has pledged $ 1 million (less than 50 850,000) for emergency assistance. “Another $ 20 million will be needed to meet the most urgent needs.”Angela Wells, a spokeswoman for the organization, said at a UN briefing in Geneva.

The third fire in four days

The origin of the fire is unknown at this time. Local authorities will be responsible for conducting the investigation. This is the third fire in four days in Rohingya camps, a fire official said. Authorities said the blaze broke out in one of 34 camps spread over three hectares.

On behalf of Saad Hammadi, South Asia Regional Head of Amnesty International, “The frequency of fires in the camps is very coincidental, especially since the results of previous investigations into these incidents are not known and are recurring.”. Some Rohingya survivors point to the barbed wire fence around the camps, which prevented many workers from escaping the blaze. Offenses denied by the police stating that only a small part of the camp was fenced off.

It has about one million members Muslim minority in Burma Survivors of military repression are living in dangerous conditions in camps in the Bazar district of Cox’s Bazar.