Fire at Rohingya camp: IOM to provide assistance for 12,000 in need

GBNEWS24DESK//

International Organization for Migration (IOM) is working on providing assistance for 12,000 Rohingya refugees who were impacted by the fire that swept through camp-11 in Cox’s Bazar yesterday, the UN agency said in a media statement.

Around 2,000 shelters were destroyed in the fire while many of the affected refugees lost all their belongings.

IOM, in coordination with other humanitarian agencies is targeting distribution of emergency shelter kits consisting of tarpaulins, bamboo, and ropes to all affected families. Less than 24 hours since the fire, IOM has mobilised 900 Rohingya volunteers through cash for work initiatives, to support the removal of debris from the site.

“We are coordinating with other humanitarian actors to ensure that those affected are provided with immediate needs including food, health, protection, water, sanitation and hygiene needs. Following the fire, refugees from these camps are looking to recover from the loss, damage and shock; we will support them with assistance for shelter repair/rebuilding and access to cooking facilities – in the form of LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] as top priorities in the days to come,” said Fathima Nusrath Ghazzali, Officer-in-Charge for IOM Bangladesh.

IOM’s initial estimates of the response to the damage in the areas of shelter, cooking fuel, site management and development, water, sanitation and hygiene, and health amount to 7.4 million US dollars.