Joint humanitarian response to fire incident in Rohingya refugee camps, Cox’s Bazar | 18 April 2021

Situation Report
Source :ISCG
3 May 2021

Just vanished!

The Daily Star
Pinaki Roy and Muhammad Ali Jinnat

September 12, 2020

Numbers not adding up at Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camps, local organisations say refugees leaving camps; govt officials deny

So where have they gone?

Despite 76,000 children being born in the camps in the last three years, the number of Rohingya refugees in all camps of Ukhiya and Teknaf has actually decreased to 8.60 lakh as of July this year.

It was about 9.57 lakh in December 2018, as per reports of the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG).

Bangladesh to lift Rohingya internet ban as anniversary nears

The Dispetch
Thomson Reuters Foundation
August 29, 2020
By Naimul Karim

DHAKA: Bangladesh will lift internet restrictions imposed on nearly a million Rohingya refugees, a senior official said on Monday, ahead of the third anniversary of their exodus from Myanmar.

The Bangladesh government has been under pressure from the United Nations and aid groups to end the restrictions over fears they are hampering efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus and provide a basic education to thousands of children.

COVID-19: Preparedness and response for the Rohingya refugee camps and host communities in Cox’s Bazar District

Weekly Update #17
26 June to 2 July 2020

Bangladesh – Rohingya Response Operation Overview, June 2020

WFP 8 Jul 2020

Rohingya Refugee Response - Bangladesh LPG Distribution Tracking Dashboard 2020 (June 30, 2020)

Link:https://reliefweb.int/report/bangladesh/rohingya-refugee-response-bangladesh-lpg-distribution-tracking-dashboard-2020-1

Monsoon may worsen already precarious situation in Rohingya camps: UN, aid agencies

The Daily Star
Star Online Report
June 23, 2020 

UN and other aid agencies are concerned that the monsoon will exacerbate an already precarious situation in the Rohingya camps where almost 860,000 refugees live in overcrowded conditions, many situated in hazardous terrain.

The monsoon, with heavy rains in the past few days, brings contamination of drinking water sources and raises increased risk of water-borne disease outbreaks in the camps and adjacent Bangladeshi communities, on top of the Covid-19 pandemic, they said.

UN Women and Rohingya women at the frontline of COVID-19 response

reliefweb
1 Jun 2020
Author: Sunee Singh

Colorful masks made by the Rohigya women & girls. © UN Women/Nadira Islam

 

The world in lockdown has created a ‘profound shock to our societies and economies, and women are at the heart of care and response efforts underway[1]. Primarily as caregivers, women are not just sustaining families, but also serving as front-line responders, mainly in the health and service sector.

Rohingya Refugee Camps In Bangladesh Are At High Risk Of The Coronavirus Outbreak

 n p    r

May 26, 2020
Malaka Gharib
One million Rohingya refugees live in camps outside the Bangladeshi town of Cox's Bazar. The conditions there make infection control difficult and put the camps at risk of the coronavirus outbreak.
Transcript

First coronavirus case found in Bangladesh Rohingya refugee camps

Aljazeera
15 May 2020

Aid groups alarmed as Rohingya tests positive for COVID-19 in the densely populated camps, home to a million refugees.

Rohingya refugees stand in line to collect food aid at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh [Shafiqur Rahman/AP]

The novel coronavirus has been detected in one of the camps in southern Bangladesh that are home to more than a million Rohingya refugees, according to officials.

An ethnic Rohingya refugee and a local person tested positive for COVID-19, a senior Bangladeshi official and a United Nations spokeswoman said on Thursday. It was the first confirmed case in the densely populated camps as humanitarian groups warned the infection could devastate the crowded settlement.

First coronavirus cases found in Bangladesh's Rohingya refugee camps

THE STRAITSTIMES
14 MAY 2020

Health experts have been warning for some time that the coronavirus could race through the sprawling, unsanitary camps.PHOTO: AFP

COX'S BAZAR (AFP) - Two Rohingya have become the first to test positive for coronavirus from the vast refugee camps in Bangladesh that house almost a million people, officials said on Thursday (May 14).

Health experts have been warning for some time that the virus could race through the sprawling, unsanitary camps that have been home to the refugees since they fled a military offensive in Myanmar more than two years ago.

Bangladesh: Fire damages 673 shanties in Rohingya camp

AA
Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh 

12.05.2020

UN refugee agency will repair damaged makeshift houses immediately, says refugee commissioner 

More than 670 makeshift dwellings for Rohingya refugees in a camp across Bangladesh's southern district of Cox's Bazar were damaged in a fire on Tuesday morning, according to officials."We've been confirmed about the fire incident and are now assessing the extent of damages officially," Bangladesh's Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) Mahbub Alam Talukder told Anadolu Agency.

No casualties were reported so far, he said. "The UNHCR [UN refugee agency] will repair the damaged tents soon."

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, UNHCR communication officer in Bangladesh Louise Donovan said that a total of 312 shelters were destroyed, with 362 more partially damaged, as well as small shops and businesses.

Camp Profiles - February 2020: Rohingya Refugee Response Bangladesh

UNHCR

5 Apr 2020

 

Coronavirus and Rohingya Refugee Camps

THE I DIPLOMAT

By Ana Salvá

March 30, 2020

The first confirmed case in Cox’s Bazar, on March 24, is a serious concern for aid workers. 

As countries close their borders and ask their citizens to stay home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, aid organizations warn that the impact of the virus on the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh “could be enormous.” On March 24, the first case was confirmed in the local community in Cox’s Bazar, and it is now only matter of time until the virus reaches the camps, exposing the most vulnerable.

The so-called “social distancing” many countries are practicing to prevent COVID-19 seems a cruel joke to the million-plus Rohingyas who live in the overcrowded refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. Most of them fled the Myanmar Army-led attacks in 2016 and 2017, and at present, are living in poor conditions without access to clean water or adequate sanitation, making them especially at risk of an outbreak.

US, China envoys visit Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar

Dhaka Tribune
Abdul Aziz, Cox's Bazar
September 15th, 2019

File photo of a Rohingya Camp Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune  

Both the delegations inspected the overall condition of the camps

Delegations from the United States and China have visited the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar.

The American envoys arrived around 9:30am while the Chinese delegation reached around 11:30am on Sunday.

Myanmar officials hold repatriation talks with Rohingya leaders

Al Jazeera
27 July 2019

High-level delegation from Myanmar is in Cox's Bazar to convince Rohingya refugees to return to Rakhine state.

The Rohingya want guarantees of safety and official recognition of their minority status before they return to Myanmar [File: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images] 

A high-level delegation from Myanmar is in Bangladesh's southern Cox's Bazar district to hold repatriation talks with Rohingya refugees.

The purpose of Saturday's visit was "to talk with Rohingya refugees in order to convince them to return to their home country", said Md Delwar Hossain, director general at Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry.

Taking refuge from persecution and violence.

The Washington Times
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
By Mohammad Ziauddin

How Bangladesh saves Rohingya refugees from scorn and hardships

Photo by: Dar Yasin

Rohingya refugee children shout slogans during a protest against the repatriation process at Unchiprang refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, in Bangladesh, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018. The head of Bangladesh's refugee commission said plans to begin a voluntary repatriation of Rohingya Muslim refugees to their native Myanmar on Thursday were scrapped after officials were unable to find anyone who wanted to return. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Reports out of the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh usually focus on the massive humanitarian efforts carried out by Bangladesh and its international partners. Together, they have supplied food, education, housing and medicine for hundreds of thousands of people with no other place to go.