Fire in Rohingya Muslim refugee camp in Bangladesh, thousands left homeless

(Patria) - A large fire today engulfed a crowded Rohingya Muslim refugee camp in southern Bangladesh, leaving thousands homeless, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced.

A fire official stated that no casualties were reported in the Balukhali camp in Cox's Bazar district.

UNHCR in Bangladesh tweeted that refugees, with the help of the agency and its partners, are voluntarily working to repair the damage caused by the fire.

More than a million Rohingya Muslim refugees have fled to Bangladesh over several decades from Myanmar, where they face widespread religious discrimination, are denied citizenship and many other rights.

Around 740,000 people crossed the border starting in August 2017, when the Myanmar army launched a brutal crackdown.

Conditions in Myanmar have worsened since the military takeover in 2021, and attempts to repatriate them have failed.

Last year, the United States announced that the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar constitutes genocide, after US authorities confirmed reports of mass atrocities by the army against civilians in a systematic campaign against this ethnic minority, RSE reports.