High winds fanned Monday\u2019s fire after it broke out in the afternoon, government officials said.<\/p>\n
And making matters worse was a barbed-wire fence almost fully built around the congested and densely populated refugee camps, according to international NGOs and other humanitarian groups, which called on Bangladesh to take down the fencing.<\/p>\n
The Bangladesh government must immediately stop work on the fence, said Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).<\/p>\n
\u201cThis 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,\u201d Egeland tweeted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe call on the Government of Bangladesh to review their decision to fence these camps, halt all fence construction going forward and find a safer, more humane alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n
In another message posted on Twitter, Matthew Smith, co-founder of Fortify Rights, an NGO that works closely with Rohingya refugees, said \u201cthose same fences may have cost refugees\u2019 lives in a devastating fire today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Refugees International, another NGO, said the barbed-wire fence was especially daunting to children.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany children are missing, and some were unable to flee because of barbed-wire set up in the camps,\u201d the group said in a statement late on Monday.<\/p>\n
Bangladeshi officials had said in January that the government\u2019s installation of barbed-wire fencing around Rohingya camps \u2013 to confine the stateless refugees from Myanmar to their settlements in Cox\u2019s Bazar \u2013 was almost complete and would be finished by June.<\/p>\n
The barbed-wire fence would keep the Rohingya safe and secure and would also deter their \u201ccriminal activities,\u201d Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal had told BenarNews last month.<\/p>\n
\u2018Reliving the devastation experienced in Myanmar\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n In the fire\u2019s aftermath on Tuesday, refugees could be seen crying and scavenging for any belongings that may have survived the blaze.<\/p>\n \u201cMy 6-year-old sister Ammuni died. She rushed to the room of my father-in-law and got trapped,\u201d Nur Kamal told BenarNews as tears rolled down her face.<\/p>\n Others spoke of missing family and neighbors.<\/p>\n \u201cForty people of our block are missing. Food, water and shelter are scarce,\u201d Rohingya leader Sultan Ahmad told BenarNews.<\/p>\n A Rohingya boy stands in front of a portion of the refugee camp that was destroyed in a massive fire on Monday in Cox\u2019s Bazar, Bangladesh, March 23, 2021. [Abdur Rahman\/BenarNews]<\/em><\/p>\n One refugee from the camp told Refugees International that \u201cthe tragedy of the fire felt like reliving the devastation the Rohingya experienced in Myanmar in 2017.\u201d<\/p>\n Sanjeev Kumar Kafley, Bangladesh head for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, also spoke about the seemingly unending misery the Rohingya refugees were facing.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a terrible blow to some of the most resilient people on Earth. Many people fled to Bangladesh after having their homes burnt to the ground. After setting up a new life, thousands now face more hardship and uncertainty,\u201d Kafley said in a statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n![\"COX2.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.benarnews.org\/english\/news\/bengali\/bd-rohingya-fire-folo-03232021124410.html\/cox2-1.jpg\/@@images\/b6a3848d-61a1-4dba-a35a-e13bcebbd63c.jpeg\" "\\"COX2.jpg\\"")
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