UNB, Cox’s Bazar :
Indiscriminate tree and hill cutting is still going on here as the Rohingyas who entered the district newly are constructing their makeshift settlements, posing a threat to the environment.
Visiting the Balukhali refugee camp in Ukhia upazila, this UNB correspondent found many Rohingyas busy building their tents on hills cutting down trees, making themselves vulnerable to hill-slide that often happens during incessant rains.According to officials who preferred not to be named, 7,000-8,000 newly arrived Rohingyas are yet to get any place to live in and the rains triggered by depression worsened their woes.
Mariam Khatun, a sexagenarian Rohingya woman who lost her husband barely a week ago, came to Bangladesh three days back along with his only son Mohammad Faruk.
They were found preparing a place on a hill for their living, but could not yet manage any card for availing themselves of relief materials.
“We had to walk for three days to reach the border. Then we stayed in the no-man’s land for another four days with little food and water. My husband had died just two days before our journey for Bangladesh began,” Mariam told UNB.
She also said they stayed in others’ houses in Bangladesh for the last three days as they failed to manage any place for themselves. “Somehow we’ve managed a place to live in but still we’re unable to get a card which will provide us food and health security.”
They have not yet registered their names either under the biometric system which is needed for officials to keep their records.
Around 50 percent of the 15,000-20,000 Rohingyas, who gathered at the no-man’s land of Anjumanpara along the border, entered Bangladesh on Thursday alone.
Local administration and different agencies like IOM and Red Cross continued their efforts to provide food and medical services to the Rohingyas who fled persecution in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
However, they were struggling to provide the adequate services to these huge Rohingyas with limited resources.
Around 6 lakh Rohingyas have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh since August 25 last.
