FIRE TRAGEDY IN ROHINGYA REFUGEE CAMP – ASEAN PEOPLE MUST RENDER HELP

We appeal all civil societies in Asean and international agencies to extend an emergency humanitarian help to Rohingya refugee camp in Balukhali, Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh in the recent fire which burned hundreds of refugee shelters in the camps.

We also appeal to the Malaysian government and national relief Ngos to extend the immediate humanitarian needs to the victims.

The camp had experienced an inferno before in Nayapara which also destroyed hundreds of shelters early this year.

The recent fire was much bigger with an estimate of an unverified figure of 700 shelters destroyed and several inhabitants killed.

We are calling for the immediate international help for humanitarian agencies to mobilize their resources to assist the dire situation in the camps.

All humanitarian Ngos in Asean and the international commumity should act fast to help the victims.

We urge the Bangladesh goverment to extend their immediate assistance with international agencies and ease access for humanitarian relief to reach the affected camps.

A relocation of the victims should be executed to suppport their daily livelihood needs.

We call for the international agencies to resolve the on going plight of the Rohingya refugees in the camps. The inhuman situation has been perpectuating for too long and they are vulnarable to extreme conditions of hunger , diseases, homelessness.

The camps are now hosting more than a million Rohingya refugees since their exodus from Myanmar since 4 decades of the junta and militia attacks on the Rohingyas.

Till today the situation is worsening in the camps. The packed shelters and full dependence on humanitarian help will render the refugees victims a slow death, if assistance is not forthcoming.

The Rohingya camps are unliveble. Its the most densely populated refugee camp in the world. Fire outbreak is a high possibility and they are also prone the natural disasters during monsoon season.

We urge UN to assist to expedite the safe and dignified repatriation of the Rohingyas to Myanmar.

Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid
President Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations ( MAPIM )