Torrential rain brings swamp-like conditions to camp in Bangladesh housing hundreds of thousands of people fleeing violence in Myanmar

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Heavy monsoon rain is flooding makeshift camps in Bangladesh housing hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar.

Amid food and water shortages, torrential rain brought back swamp-like conditions to many parts of the border town of Cox’s Bazar.

Almost 8cm of rain fell in 24 hours and more is predicted in the next two days, the Bangladesh weather department said.

Bangladesh authorities, who have already issued travel restrictions on the Rohingya, launched an operation late on Saturday to move tens of thousands of people out of roadside camps and hillside shanties into a giant new camp.

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The UN says 409,000 Rohingya have arrived in Cox’s Bazar since 25 August when the military in Buddhist-majority Myanmar launched operations in Rakhine state.

As existing camps are already full with 300,000 Rohingya having fled earlier violence, many of the newer arrivals have been forced to live in the open air or under structures made from plastic sheeting.

Police have ordered exhausted families to go to the Balukhali camp in Cox’s Bazar, which is being cleared to build new shelters.

“We are shifting them from the roadsides where many of them have been staying,” Khaled Mahmud, a government spokesman, said. Mahmud said gradually all the recent Rohingya arrivals would be taken to Balukhali to bring order to the chaotic aid operation.

On Sunday Myanmar’s government hinted that it may not take back Rohingya who fled across the border, accusing those refugees of having links to the militants.

“Those who fled the villages made their way to the other country for fear of being arrested as they got involved in the violent attacks. Legal protection will be given to the villages whose residents did not flee,” the government’s Information Committee statement said.

Previous statements have said that the country will set up relief shelters in northern Rakhine for Muslims “who can guarantee they are in no way connected to the terrorists”.

On Saturday, Bangladesh police issued tough new orders banning the Rohingya from moving out of designated areas. The order even prevented them from taking shelter with friends and relatives.

Checkpoints have been set up at key transit points.

With thousands more Rohingya arriving each day, the UN is already warning of intolerable conditions in the camps around Cox’s Bazar.

The rain “has doubled their misery”, said Mohammed Kai-Kislu, police chief at Ukhia, near Cox’s Bazar.

Aid workers said thousands of Rohingya were drenched by the return of the monsoon after a respite of a few days.

Arfa Begum and seven of her family tried to hide under rubber trees near the Balukhali settlement where they arrived five days earlier.

“They evicted us from the rubber plantation,” she said, referring to the police and border guards forcing the refugees out of makeshift shelters. “It took hours to find a safe place. We were drenched,” she said.

Faced with a spreading mudbath, the Rohingya have started building bamboo carpets to get over flooded land.

A human rights expert in Cox’s Bazar urged the government to shut local schools for three days to allow the Rohingya to camp in them. “It is another disaster unfolding. Thousands of Rohingya had no place to hide when the rain came,” said Nur Khan Liton, who headed Bangladeshi rights group Ain O Salish Kendra.

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de-facto leader, is to give a nationally televised speech on the Rohingya case on Tuesday.

The Nobel peace laureate has been much criticised around the world for not condemning the violence against the Rohingya. She is caught between the need to address the global outrage while not angering the military, which maintains huge power.

Gen Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s army chief, called for a “united” stance in handling the crisis but gave no sign of concessions.

Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has arrived at the UN general assembly in New York to press for greater help coping with the refugees and put more pressure on Myanmar. She is to address the UN assembly on Thursday.