Bangladesh announced on Thursday that it will build a massive refugee camp to house all the Rohingya Muslims who have fled to Dhaka from Myanmar, The Guardian reported.
The country currently has nearly 8 lakh Rohingya Muslim refugees. Five lakh of them have fled to Bangladesh since August 25.
All the Rohingya refugees will be moved from the 23 camps set up along the border, and other makeshift camps, to the new one Kutupalong, said Minister For Disaster Management And Relief Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya said. Two existing settlements have already been shut down, the minister said.
Bangladesh had set aside about 2,000 acres of land next to an existing refugee camp at Kutupalong near the border town of Cox’s Bazar to accommodate the Rohingyas. Now, another 1,000 acres has also been demarcated.
“All of those who are living in scattered places...would be brought into one place. That is why more land is needed. Slowly all of them will come,” the minister said.
Hundreds have died since Rohingya militants targeted 30 police sites at an army base in Myanmar in a coordinated strike on August 25, according to the United Nations. The UN described the violence against the Rohingyas as an “ethnic cleansing”.
Rohingyas have been denied citizenship in Myanmar and are classified as illegal immigrants. The community has been subjected to violence by the Buddhist majority and the Army in Myanmar, though the country has repeatedly denied this claim.
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