Bangladesh: First heavy rains of 2018 have hit Cox’s Bazar ahead of the much dreaded monsoon season, drenching refugee camps that are now home to nearly 800,000 Rohingya.
Aid agencies have been warning that the monsoon season could prompt a humanitarian catastrophe in coming months at what is the world’s biggest refugee camp, sheltering people fleeing violence in Myanmar.
The sites in southeastern Bangladesh are predicted to be hit by powerful cyclones and by more than 2.5 metres (eight feet) of rainfall over the coming three months of monsoon — roughly triple what Britain gets in a year.
Bangladesh’s meteorological office said the Cox’s Bazar area where many of the refugees live in makeshift shelters on bare hillsides had 138 millimetres (5.4 inches) of rain since last evening.
“As we feared, this first deluge is already wreaking havoc in the camps, with a number low-lying areas flooded and access made much more difficult. It was alarming how quickly dirt turned into mud and puddles the size of wading pools formed.”
“These rains signal even harder times ahead for Rohingya families who fled brutal violence in Myanmar before coming to Bangladesh. Not only are they facing grim conditions in overcrowded refugee camps where they rely on food rations to survive, but now they have to worry about dangerous storms, heavy rains and the risk of flooding and landslides, as well as an increased likelihood of outbreaks of disease.”
