{"id":1694,"date":"2017-10-06T03:14:31","date_gmt":"2017-10-06T03:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/?p=1694"},"modified":"2017-10-06T03:14:31","modified_gmt":"2017-10-06T03:14:31","slug":"bangladesh-to-build-one-of-worlds-largest-refugee-camps-for-800000-rohingya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/bangladesh-to-build-one-of-worlds-largest-refugee-camps-for-800000-rohingya\/","title":{"rendered":"Bangladesh to build one of world’s largest refugee camps for 800,000 Rohingya"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Authorities say they will move Rohingya from 23 camps into new refugee zone near Cox\u2019s Bazar close to Myanmar border<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Rohingya<\/picture><\/div>
\u00a0Rohingya carry belongings through muddy water in the refugee camp at Cox\u2019s Bazar. Over 500,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh since August. Photograph: Paula Bronstein\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Agence France Presse<\/p>\n

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Bangladesh<\/a>\u00a0on Thursday announced it would build one of the world\u2019s biggest refugee camps to house all the 800,000-plus Rohingya Muslims who have sought asylum from violence in Myanmar.<\/p>\n

The arrival of more than half a million Rohingya Muslims\u00a0<\/a>from Buddhist-dominated Myanmar since 25 August has put an immense strain on camps in Bangladesh where there are growing fears of a disease epidemic.<\/p>\n

A Bangladesh minister gave details of the mega camp as Myanmar\u2019s army blamed\u00a0Rohingya<\/a>\u00a0militants for setting fire to houses in troubled Rakhine state in recent days to intensify the exodus of the Muslim minority across the border.<\/p>\n

Bangladesh authorities plan to expand a refugee camp at Kutupalong near the border town of Cox\u2019s Bazar to accommodate the Rohingya.<\/p>\n

Seven-hundred-and-ninety hectares of land (2,000 acres) next to the existing Kutupalong camp were set aside last month for the new Rohingya arrivals. But as the number of newcomers has exceeded 500,000 \u2013 adding to 300,000 already in Bangladesh \u2013 another 400 hectares (1,000 acres) has been set aside for the new camp.<\/p>\n

Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, minister for disaster management and relief, said all the Rohingya would eventually be moved from 23 camps along the border and other makeshift camps around Cox\u2019s Bazar to the new zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of those who are living in scattered places … would be brought into one place. That\u2019s why more land is needed. Slowly all of them will come,\u201d the minister said, adding families were already moving to the new site known as the Kutupalong extension.<\/p>\n

The minister said two of the existing settlements have already been shut down.<\/p>\n

This week Bangladesh reported 4,000-5,000 Rohingya were crossing the border eachday after a brief lull in arrivals, with 10,000 more waiting at the frontier.<\/p>\n

The United Nations has praised Bangladesh\u2019s \u201cextraordinary spirit of generosity\u201d in opening up its borders.<\/p>\n

But UNICEF chief Anthony Lake and UN emergency relief coordinator Mark Lowcock said in an appeal for $430 million to provide aid that \u201cthe needs [of the Rohingya] are growing at a faster pace than our ability to meet them\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe human tragedy unfolding in southern Bangladesh is staggering in its scale, complexity and rapidity,\u201d he said in a statement calling the Rohingya crisis \u201cthe world\u2019s fastest developing refugee emergency\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rohingya who have made it to Bangladesh allege the spurt in arrivals follows a new campaign of intimidation by Myanmar\u2019s army in parts of Rakhine which were still home to Muslim communities.<\/p>\n

But the office of\u00a0Myanmar<\/a>\u00a0army chief Min Aung Hlaing said blazes at seven houses in a Rohingya village in Buthidaung township early on Wednesday were started by \u201cEinu\u201d, an alleged militant from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).<\/p>\n

The refugee crisis erupted after ARSA raids on Myanmar police posts on 25 August prompted a brutal military backlash<\/a>. The UN has said the Myanmar army campaign could be \u201cethnic cleansing\u201d while military leaders have blamed the unrest on Rohingya.<\/p>\n

Source: Here<\/a><\/p>\n