Fires tear through Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh

It is the largest camp for refugees in the world: The Balukhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar in southern Bangladesh is home to around one million Rohingya migrants. They have fled to Bangladesh in the summer of 2017 to escape the massive violence and human rights violations by the Burmese military. The large fire - whose cause is still unknown - destroyed more than 10,000 huts, including community centers, learning and health facilities, and sanitation facilities. Many residents are still searching for their relatives - around 500 people, including children, are considered missing. At least 15 people have died. 

Essential support such as food, drinking water, emergency shelter, clothing and cooking equipment are urgently needed. Our partner organization Solidar Suisse has been working actively with local partners and people since 2017. Solidar Suisse, in cooperation with the local partner Young Power in Social Action (YPSA),  is distributing  relief supplies to 1,457 people. This inlcudes kitchen utensils, hygiene articles as well as bamboo mats, tarpaulins and solar lamps. In addition, 20 volunteers will be trained and enabled to prevent and handle fires  and burn injuries accordingly. The volunteers  will  pass on their knowledge to at their  family members  in further training courses. In this way, the project is helping to prevent fires of a similar extent in the future. The relief measures are aimed primarily at vulnerable people: women,  senior citizen, sick or injured people as well as those households that have lost family members in the fire.

Thank you for your donation: 

AWO International e.V.
donation keyword: Emergency Fund
IBAN: DE83 1002 0500 0003 2211 00
Bank für Sozialwirtschaft
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