TORONTO (CNS): Even as the last of five fires was still out of control among clusters of tents and shelters that house 600,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Abdullah Fuad, head of programmes for Caritas Bangladesh, was thinking of the women and children who have now endured one more disaster.
“We are still counting the number of damaged households and the number of people affected,” he told The Catholic Register just hours after the fire broke out on March 22.
By early the next morning, there were 15 confirmed dead, according to media reports. A situation report from Caritas Bangladesh estimated that more than 17,500 households had been burned out by the fire, displacing nearly 88,000 people.
The fire broke out at about 3.30pm in camp 8W of the massive refugee settlement just across the border from Myanmar, according to the situation report. The fires were not fully contained until nearly midnight.
‘Right now the main priority is to save their lives and keep them in a safe position’
The camp mainly houses women and children, while men travel back and forth between their homeland and the world’s largest refugee camp, trying to support their families and maintain a connection to their farms.
This is the second fire in less than three months to strike Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. In January, more than 550 shelters were destroyed or damaged, displacing about 3,500 people.
Beginning with a network of parish volunteers, Caritas Bangladesh emerged as one of the first organisations in the camp. It is part of the Caritas Internationalis network of aid agencies that includes Canada’s Development and Peace, Catholic Relief Services in the United States, CAFOD in Great Britain and Trócaire in Ireland.
Caritas Bangladesh provides food, hygiene and psychosocial supports to about 30,000 families, at least 120,000 people, Fuad said.
“Right now the main priority is to save their lives and keep them in a safe position,” Fuad told The Catholic Register.
The fires did not affect parts of the camp where Caritas Bangladesh provides direct service to people, but the newly homeless refugees soon flooded the Caritas areas and the organisation was able to offer shelter in multipurpose women and girl centres.
Fuad said Caritas was trying to coordinate with United Nations agencies and other non-government actors to get a handle on what’s needed and who needs help. Building materials were being sent to the International Organisation for Migration, responsible for providing housing, according to a March 23 report from Caritas Bangladesh.
“It’s vital that we work together not just with other aid organisations, but also the Rohingya community to rebuild and recover as quickly as possible. Some members of the Rohingya community have already been key to the relief effort, helping people to safety, supporting the fire response and aid organisations on the ground.” Bernice Sarpong, Caritas Australia’s Humanitarian Programme Coordinator for Asia, said on March 25.
