Monsoon landslides kill at least eight in Bangladesh Rohingya camps

At least eight Rohingya Muslims, including women and children, were killed early Sunday when heavy monsoon rains triggered multiple landslides across refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh. A Bangladeshi man was also killed, and two family members were injured when a hillside collapsed onto their home in Cox’s Bazar.

The slides hit four locations in the camps and buried shelters under mud and debris while residents slept. In Cox’s Bazar district, more than 250 millimeters of rain fell in the 24 hours ending Monday morning.

More than 1 million Rohingya refugees remain in Bangladesh, mostly in Cox’s Bazar district, after more than 750,000 fled Myanmar’s Rakhine State in August 2017 amid military crackdowns. The refugees are packed into 33 highly congested camps and are highly exposed to cyclones, flooding and landslides, with many families still living in bamboo-and-plastic shelters on deforested hillsides that can give way with little warning.

Ali Ahmed said fire-service personnel and neighbors pulled him from his shelter after it was buried, only for him to learn that his mother, father and younger brother had died. Mohammed Taher said fear rises every time heavy rain begins because thousands of people still live on unstable slopes where even a minor slide can become deadly.

Authorities had already relocated at least 1,000 refugees from the most dangerous areas and planned to move several thousand more in phases. Awareness campaigns were also under way, while Bangladesh Fire Service personnel, the Armed Police Battalion, local authorities and volunteers joined the rescue effort. UNHCR and humanitarian partners were assessing the damage and supporting the response as more rain and flash floods were forecast.