January 31, 2018 - According to CARE International, refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh are facing dramatic weeks ahead: the upcoming rainy season might turn into a disaster of threatening floods and landslides. The international aid organization warns that the situation of the nearly 900,000 people living in the refugee camps of the Cox's Bazar region will drastically worsen. The area in the southeast of the country, which previously consisted mainly of agricultural land, grassland and rainforest, was cleared for the construction of refugee tents. The soil can therefore no longer absorb large water masses and is extremely vulnerable to landslides. There is a danger that thousands of people could lose their tent homes under the mudslides. Persistent rains and flash floods threaten to flood the area, especially the valleys.
"We are running out of time. Our CARE team on the ground is working rapidly to stabilize as many houses as possible. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, could lose their homes unless we all act faster," says Zia Choudhury, CARE Bangladesh’s Country Director.
Since the beginning of the crisis in August 2017, CARE has reached nearly 50,000 people with emergency shelters. Through the distribution of tarpaulins and bamboo pipes as well as through hands-on training for refugees, CARE has helped to stabilize makeshift tents and prepare refugees for the upcoming rainy season. To date, CARE has supported almost 200,000 refugees in the region of Cox’s Bazar with emergency shelters, medical care and other assistance.
Contact: Jennifer Bose, Emergency Communications Officer
CARE International: Based at CARE Germany/Austria, currently deployed to Bangladesh
E-Mail: [email protected]