At least eight Rohingya Muslims — among them several children — were killed and a number of others wounded early Monday morning after intense monsoon rainfall triggered a series of landslides across refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh, according to officials.
The camps, located in Cox’s Bazar, are home to more than 1.2 million Rohingya people and make up the largest refugee settlement on the planet. The vast majority of residents fled Myanmar in 2017 following a military crackdown in that neighboring Buddhist-majority nation, where Rohingya are considered outsiders.
Most families in the camps are sheltered in temporary structures built from bamboo and plastic sheeting, perched on steep, treeless hillsides that become extremely dangerous during the yearly monsoon season.
The slides struck four different areas within the camps, collapsing shelters and burying them in mud while residents were still asleep. In a separate but related incident, a Bangladeshi man was also killed and two of his family members were hurt when a section of hillside gave way and crashed into their home in Cox’s Bazar, police reported.
“Eight people have died in landslides caused by heavy rain,” said Tumpa Das, a police official based in Cox’s Bazar.
Das added that ongoing rainfall has raised the likelihood of additional slides, with thousands of refugees still occupying unstable terrain.
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, the Bangladeshi official responsible for refugee relief and repatriation efforts, said authorities are acting quickly to protect lives. “We’re moving people out of high-risk areas as quickly as possible to prevent any more casualties,” he said.
The tragedy comes at a particularly tense time, as renewed violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State is raising fears that a new wave of Rohingya refugees could attempt to cross into Bangladesh. Bangladeshi authorities have increased their presence along the border after reports emerged of people gathering nearby hoping to enter the country.
Bangladesh’s meteorological agency has predicted continued heavy rainfall in the days ahead, keeping officials on high alert for additional landslides and flash flooding.
Deadly landslides and floods are a recurring threat each monsoon season in the refugee camps, routinely claiming lives and destroying homes, roads, and essential services.
