Aid workers are scrambling to train emergency response teams as the coming monsoon season looms over Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, threatening to bring potentially fatal flooding and landslides.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims are living in crowded camps in Cox’s Bazar after fleeing sectarian violence in neighbouring Myanmar, where they have reported mass killings, rape and arson.

Hundreds of thousands will be at risk when the rains arrive later this month, said Dr Iftikher Mahmood, founder of the Hope Foundation for Women and Children of Bangladesh.

Dr Mahmood, who grew up in Cox’s Bazar, told The Independent the monsoon season there could be “devastating” and the Rohingya refugees could face a fatal mix of mudslides, floods and tropical storms.

Its location on the coast means Cox’s Bazar is considered a high risk area in Bangladesh, which is already prone to severe flooding during the monsoon season.

More than 100,000 refugees will be threatened by landslides and floods in the coming monsoons, according to computer modelling by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).

In one mega-camp, Kutupalong, the population density is five times the recommended standard for refugee camps. The lack of space has forced the construction of shelters for refugees onto landslide-prone slopes and flood zones, putting over 102,000 people at risk in that camp alone.

Rohingya crisis in photos Show all 15 1 /15 Rohingya crisis in photos Rohingya crisis in photos Rohingya refugees are reflected in rain water along an embankment next to paddy fields after fleeing from Myanmar into Palang Khali, near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh November REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Rohingya refugees scramble for aid at a camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Betel leaves cover the face of 11-month-old Rohingya refugee Abdul Aziz whose wrapped body lay in his family shelter after he died battling high fever and severe cough at the Balukhali refugee camp near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, December REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos An exhausted Rohingya refugee fleeing violence in Myanmar cries for help from others crossing into Palang Khali, near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh November REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Mohammed Shoaib, 7, who was shot in his chest before crossing the border from Myanmar in August, is held by his father outside a medical centre near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Rohingya refugees try to take shelter from torrential rain as they are held by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) after illegally crossing the border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Rohingya refugee children fly improvised kites at the Kutupalong refugee camp near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Smoke is seen on the Myanmar border as Rohingya refugees walk on the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal, in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos People gather under heavy rain around bodies of Rohingya refugees after the boat they were using to flee violence in Myanmar capsized off Inani Beach near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos The remains of a burned Rohingya village is seen in this aerial photograph near Maungdaw, north of Rakhine State, Myanmar REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Rohingya refugees cross the Naf River with an improvised raft to reach to Bangladesh in Teknaf, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos A security officer attempts to control Rohingya refugees waiting to receive aid in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Hamida, a Rohingya refugee woman, weeps as she holds her 40-day-old son after he died as their boat capsized before arriving on shore in Shah Porir Dwip, Teknaf, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos Rohingya siblings fleeing violence hold one another as they cross the Naf River along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Palong Khali, near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh REUTERS Rohingya crisis in photos An exhausted Rohingya refugee woman touches the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal, in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh September Reuters

Dr Mahmood warned there “is an extremely high risk of mudslides”, which could wash away the flimsy bamboo and plastic shelters that house the refugees, and flooding from heavy rains could turn everything to “slop”.

He said: “We have heavy rain around July and August. Everything is slop. People are underwater, houses are underwater, and also we get mudslides.”

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims are living in crowded refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar after fleeing sectarian violence in neighbouring Myanmar (Josh Estey/ EMC) (Josh Estey/EMC)

Dr Mahmood also said the vulnerable coastal area could be wracked by tropical storms and hurricane-force winds: “There is no doubt, all these tents are going to be blown away at the first wind.”

The refugees could also face outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea, and are at risk of pneumonia, which Dr Mahmood said can cause “rapid deterioration, especially in women and children”.

He added: “Mudslides could be fatal, floods could be fatal and the tropical storms could be fatal,” then went on to caution: “Close to a million people are staying there, it’s extremely crowded. People are not going to be able to find a place to hide or take shelter.”

Dr Mahmood warned ‘there is an extremely high risk of mudslides’ which could wash away the flimsy bamboo and plastic shelters refugees live in (Josh Estey/ EMC)

In anticipation of the coming monsoon season, which the Bangladesh Meteorological Department said typically begins in April and peaks in July, the Hope Foundation is training between four and six emergency response teams, which will be comprised of 40 local staff who are used to responding to catastrophic weather.

“Right now we are training about 40 people, but our goal is to have 80 to put together mobile medical teams ready to respond,” Dr Mahmood said.

When the Rohingya refugee crisis broke out in August 2017, the Hope Foundation was one of the first organisations to mobilise to help those fleeing from Myanmar.

“Quickly, we set up a bunch of clinics in the locations where there was heavy need,” Dr Mahmood said. “At that time not many international or national NGOs came around, so we set up some clinics and started working, primarily on reproductive health, emergency care and primary care, and also made partners with other organisations so we are working together.”

The Hope Foundation for Women and Children of Bangladesh has been preparing for the coming monsoons by training emergency response teams (Josh Estey/ EMC)

Earlier this week Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s prime minister, said more international pressure needed to be placed on Myanmar to take back Rohingya refugees and ensure their safety.

After a repatriation deal between the neighbouring countries was delayed, Bangladesh raced to prepare new homes on an uninhabited low-lying island in the Bay of Bengal, called Bhasan Char, before the monsoons.

“We are expecting to move those who are in a vulnerable place to the island,” Ms Hasina said. “Bangladesh can always be flooding and it does. The camps are very unhealthy. We have prepared a better place for them to live, with houses and shelters where they can earn a living.

“Where they are living now, the monsoon season is coming up, there can be land erosions, accidents are taking place.”

Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Show all 15 1 /15 Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Badiul Alam, 52, appointed as the manager of one grouping of refugees, shows the rifle-butt injury he sustained during his flight from Myanmar Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Abdur Rahim, 50, fled Myanmar with his family of seven. It took a month for them to walk to Bangladesh, carrying all their possessions on their shoulders. They haven’t yet found a place to put down their belongings after a gruelling journey Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Various refugee camps – Kutupalong, Balukhali and Moinerghona – have merged into one vast sprawl spread over many muddy hills that just a few months ago were a rolling green nature reserve Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps A Red Cross aid-worker supervises an aid distribution point on the edge of the Moinerghona camp, saying they have never known refugees anywhere in the world stand so patiently in line in such heat to be registered and receive aid without any tension or anger Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Last week the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a deal to return the Rohingya to Rakhine. But many worry that they will face further reprisals if they return, and there was no mention of what would happen to those who refused to go back Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps A quiet calm pervades the camps. Is it relief at being free from fear, or do feelings about the horrors witnessed remain suppressed? Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps The aid response is focused on providing food, water and shelter for people who fled with nothing Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps The effort is now well-organised and trucks delivering supplies move up and down the main road between Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf all day long Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Only men are in the aid queue, as separate queues are often set up for men and women. Sixty-five-year-old Nur Ahmed wears his ID card which shows he has been formally registered to receive aid Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Ajmin Ara, 70, wanders around disorientated. She has lost her entire family and fled to Bangladesh alone; she is painfully thin/skeletal and very weak, but is receiving medical care from a small clinic set up to the side of the aid queue Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps It’s estimated that 620,000 Rohingya people have fled violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in the last three months. Many say they were doing their morning prayers or cooking food when their villages were attacked and they fled, often with only the clothes they were wearing Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Nur Asha, 47, sits quietly in the crowd until she can no longer restrain herself and her story comes out in a torrent: how she fled with her son when the military attacked her village but doesn’t know where her other relatives are, how throats were slashed, how children were thrown into fires, how rice paddy fields were filled with bodies left for the dogs to eat Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Mohammed Sayed, 24, fled Myanmar about a month ago with his parents, wife and sister after their home was burnt down and many people in their village were killed Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Children flock around the queue and one boy has made a hat from an empty medicine package to shield himself from the heat, but other boys playing nearby tease him and knock it off his head and soon it is ripped to pieces Hope in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps Children who have fled with nothing make toy cars from empty bottles and kites from plastic bags. Despite the horrors they will have witnessed, children still laugh and play for the camera

Dr Mahmood, who used his own money to set up the foundation in 1999, said it gives primary and emergency care, with a focus on maternal reproductive health and women’s health.

The Hope Foundation now provides a 24-7 hospital, more than 40 midwives, two gynaecological surgeons, an anaesthetist and 10 medical officers in the camps. Between September 2017 and April 2018, the foundation provided medical care for 137,010 refugees in total.

But with the coming monsoon season, Dr Mahmood called on the international community to provide more resources and help.

“The international community has a lot of resources, funding and expertise,” he said. “With so many people at risk... I think that the international community should get more involved and put their resources together and send some help so we can handle it together.”

He added: “I request the international community to come along with more resources and help our government and the local people to build a robust response system so lives can be saved.”

Last week, the UNHCR said conditions in Myanmar were not ready for the safe return of the Rohingya.