Tens of thousands of Rohingyas in camps in Cox’s Bazar district are at imminent risk of landslides, Human Rights Watch has said in a newly released online video.
Bangladesh authorities with assistance from the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies should urgently relocate refugees to safer grounds, it said.
Thousands of hand-built tarpaulin and bamboo shelters are threatened by strong winds and cyclones during the upcoming monsoon, the rights body said on Wednesday.
The Rohingya refugees living on the steep, deforested slopes of sand and clay in the Kutupalong-Balukhali camps face added dangers of landslides.
Altogether over 700,000 recent Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are living in camps in Bangladesh.
“The situation in the Rohingya camps is a disaster waiting to happen,” said Bill Frelick, refugee rights director at Human Rights Watch. “Already, after a few bouts of rain, some shelters were blown away and the narrow paths are slippery and dangerous.”
“Many Rohingya want to return to Myanmar if their rights and identity are respected, but sadly that won’t happen anytime soon,” Frelick said. “In the meantime, people like Nobi Hassan and his family desperately need a safe place to live.”
