March 2021 Rohingya refugee-camp fire

Makeshift shacks in the Balukhali refugee camp in 2018

In 2017, the vast majority of Rohingya people were displaced and became refugees as a result of the genocide.[1] At the peak of the crisis in 2017, over a million Rohingya were forced to flee to other countries. Most fled to Bangladesh while others escaped to India, Thailand, Malaysia, and other parts of South and Southeast Asia. According to the United Nations, as of July 2019, over 742,000 Rohingya people who had fled or been driven out of Rakhine State sought refuge in Bangladesh.[2][3]

The Balukhali camp is believed to be part of the largest refugee camp in the world, and held approximately one-tenth of Bangladesh's one million Rohingya refugees.[4][5][6] The UNHCR regional representative stated that women and children made up the majority of its population.[7] It had experienced a previous large fire in 2017, caused by exploding gas cylinders. Smaller fires had broken out in the two days previously, destroying a number of huts, while January 2021 had seen another fire which had burned down four schools.[4]

The Bangladeshi government has been moving refugees to Bhasan Char island in the Bay of Bengal, a policy widely condemned since the island could easily be submerged by a tropical cyclone.[8][note 1]

During the late afternoon of 22 March 2021 a fire broke out in the Balukhali camp, southwest of Cox's Bazar.[9] Residents later described how it had started in the south and spread with great speed[4] through four blocks,[10] and that panic broke out as people tried to escape.[9]

The World Food Programme said a number of its food distribution warehouses had been destroyed,[5] as had health clinics, mosques, community centres, and a safe space for women run by the International Rescue Committee (IRC).[9] The head of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement delegation in Bangladesh stated over 17,000 shelters[4]—possibly 40,000[9] and most of them, constructed from bamboo and tarpaulin,[11] makeshift[9]—were destroyed, displacing "tens of thousands of people".[4]

Local reports stated the fire was burning eight hours after it broke out,[6] and continued "well into the night", reported Time magazine.[12] A Rohingya refugee was reported by NPR as telling them how "everything has gone. Thousands are without homes"; conversely, suggested the Catholic Relief Services, it was lucky that the fire had broken out in the afternoon rather than at night, as "people were moving around and children were outside playing, so they could quickly evacuate".[9] The Times of India stated that "at least four teams of firefighters were struggling to control the blaze" and that videos posted to social media showed thick black smoke covering the camp.[10]

First reports indicated that at least 15 people had died, with around another 400 missing, according to the UNHCR, who described it as "massive, it is devastating".[4] The majority of the camp's refugees were women and children,[7] and a government spokesperson confirmed that a number of the dead were children[9] and that many of the missing were buried in the rubble. The UNHCR also suggested that 560 people had been injured and 45,000 displaced.

The cause of the fire was unknown, although under investigation by Bangladesh Police. A number of human rights observers criticised the placement of barbed wire around the camp, arguing that it had prevented people[4]—"including especially vulnerable women and girls", said the IRC[9]—from fleeing the fire, and perhaps contributed to the death toll.[4][6] Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) argued that "this tragic event could have been less disastrous had barbed wire fencing not been erected encircling the camps. NRC staff have heard horrific accounts from refugees about their scramble to cut through the wire fences to save their families, escape the fire and reach safety".[12] Police, however, rejected the claims regarding barbed wire,[11][note 2] and a government spokesman, reported Channel News Asia, stated that "the fencing was not a major issue", blaming the speed with which the fire spread rather than the barbed-wire fencing for casualties.[8]

External image
Aftermath of fire, taken 23 March 2021[7]

Also questioned was why fires appeared to start with relative frequency, with a local fire brigade official stating three fires had occurred in four days; Amnesty International stated that, in their view, the "frequency of fire in the camps is too coincidental, especially when outcomes of previous investigations into the incidents are not known and they keep repeating", while a spokesman for the refugees noted that "It is not clear why these fire incidents are happening repeatedly in the camps".[4] CBS reported that Bangladesh suspects arson, noting that "officials there say it's too much of a coincidence to have so many fires in such a short time period".[13] Although the fire had died down within 48 hours, its cause was still unknown.[7]

The World Food Programme (WFP) believed up to 87,500 people would ultimately be affected by the fire,[12] with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement putting the figure at 123,000.[12][note 3] Aid agencies said the situation would remain critical due to the proximity of the cyclone season.[12]