BANGLADESH - Some 4,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have been left without shelter after a suspected arson attack ripped through their camp, burning nearly 800 homes, an official said on Jan 7.

Bangladesh is home to around a million Rohingya, many of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown on the mainly Muslim minority in neighbouring Myanmar that is now subject to a United Nations genocide probe.

The blaze tore through the tightly packed complex of bamboo and tarpaulin shelters in the early hours of the morning on Jan 7 at a camp in the country’s south-east, refugee commissioner Mizanur Rahman said.

“At least 711 shelters were fully burnt and 63 were partially damaged,” Mr Rahman said, adding that five education centres and two mosques were also destroyed.

He said the fire made 4,000 people homeless.

There were no casualties and the fire had been brought under control, he said.

“We have ordered a probe into the fire”, he added. “We suspect it is an act of arson.”

The UN refugee agency said the “large fire damaged many refugee shelters”, adding it was “supporting people affected”.

Fires in the dozens of Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh are common, especially during the dry season from November to April.

But many of the camps are also riven by violence between rival Rohingya groups.

Police said security in the camps has worsened, with more than 60 refugees killed in turf wars and drug-related clashes in 2023, the highest number on record.

In March 2023, a fire in Kutupalong camp – one of the world’s largest refugee settlements – destroyed 2,000 shelters.

Two years earlier, at least 15 Rohingya were killed and another 50,000 refugees were made homeless after a blaze in the same camp. AFP