The New Humanitarian
Mohammad AhtaramCOX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh
Freelance researcher who left Myanmar in 2017, now living in Bangladesh’s refugee camps
We Rohingya have grown all too accustomed to starting over with nothing – through catastrophic fires and monsoon floods, or after fleeing our homeland in terror
Abdu Rohim and his family are living proof. They were among at least 48,000 people whose homes were burnt to the ground in March when an uncontrollable fire spread through parts of Bangladesh’s refugee camps.
They lost everything. Abdu’s family, including three young children and his elderly parents, are rebuilding their lives over the ashes of their former home.
“My heart breaks when I see them trembling in the cool evening wind,” he told me.