In Bangladesh, heavy rains and flooding engulfed Rohingya refugee camps this week. According to Al Jazeera, nearly one million Rohingya refugees are currently packed into small huts made from plastic sheets and rotting bamboo in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazaar district.
Al Jazeera released a host of photos showing the intensity of the rain in the area and the fear of the camp’s inhabitants. Some of the photos show young men playing soccer in a flooded field, a woman scooping mud from her hut and a young girl holding her baby brother.
After facing persecution and ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, the Rohingya in these camps now face deadly flooding and disease as well. Their camps—built from temporary materials as they were not able to construct permanent housing—were not meant to withstand torrential downpours. According to Al Jazeera, 900 shelters and 200 restrooms have been washed away by the storms.
According to UNICEF, the camp’s 200,000 refugees, half of which are children, are the most vulnerable to waterborne diseases, like cholera, that come with heavy rainfall. Al Jazeera also reports that refugees have been crushed by weakened mud walls, thus posing another threat to the families.
With an estimated 2500 millimeters of rain expected in the next months, Al Jazeera states that various aid groups are facing the impossible task of moving thousands of refugees to safer areas.
