A fire that left thousands of Rohingya refugees homeless in Bangladesh camps was a “planned act of sabotage,” says a panel investigating the blaze. Nearly 2,800 shelters and more than 90 facilities, including hospitals and learning centers, were destroyed in the fire on March 5, leaving more than 12,000 people without shelter, officials said.
More than a million Rohingya live in tens of thousands of huts made of bamboo and thin plastic sheeting in camps in the border district of Cox’s Bazar, most having fled a military-led crackdown in Myanmar in 2017. Residents said the incident is a sign of a growing turf war between the gangs in the world’s largest refugee camp. Surging crime, difficult living conditions, and bleak prospects for returning to Myanmar are driving more Rohingya to leave Bangladesh by boat for countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, putting their lives at risk.
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