Arakan News Agency
The difficult situation for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s camps seems to be worsening, with seasonal rains starting over low-lying camps.
It started with simple showers of rain on Wednesday, but then turned into a torrential stream that immediately resulted in floods and mud ponds.
More than 670,000 Rohingya refugees – fleeing Myanmar violence – are gathering in low-lying camps along the eastern border of Bangladesh, but with expectations of continued showers over the next few days, the situation may be more difficult.
“One hour of rain caused very severe effects in the camp,” said Daphne Cook, director of information and communications at Save the Children. “There are expectations that rain will continue, threatening populations already at risk.
“The first flood is wreaking havoc in the camps, and a number of low-lying areas have drowned in floods,” Cook said.
She pointed to the destruction caused by the first flood, investigating what they feared, pointing to the sinking of some low areas; the result of floods and the difficulty of access, pointing to the speed of the formation of mud and ponds in the size of small basins.
But the flooding of the camps with water and the difficult health and security situation now are the current rains, just a warning of what will come.
More difficult times ahead
Hundreds of thousands of Rwandan Muslim refugees have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh since August 2017, carrying stories of murder, rape and destruction of villages by the army.
The United Nations and the United States said violence against Rohingya was ethnically cleansing, but Myanmar denies most of the charges, saying the army targeted only suspected terrorists who killed 12 security officials at the end of August.
Cook explained that the rains indicate more difficult times waiting for the Rohingya families who have fled the brutal violence in Myanmar, pointing out that in the coming months we will see rain on a regular basis will cause more difficulties, will destroy people’s shelters and will close the roads, difficult access to the camps .
The hillsides around the camps have been stripped of their trees, making the soil vulnerable to collapses, and drainage systems in camps are likely to fail, meaning that diseases such as cholera are likely to spread.
The refugees face harsh conditions with their food rations, but now they may have to worry about serious storms, heavy rains, the risk of floods and landslides, and the growing potential for disease outbreaks, Daphne Cook said.
