One month after the devastating fire in the Cox Bazar refugee camp in southern Bangladesh, the humanitarian situation is complicated. The fire destroyed about 2,800 huts, leaving 15,000 refugees without shelter.

The Order of Malta’s relief agency, Malteser International, active in the area since 2017, took immediate action. The health teams already present were joined by other staff to provide health and social care to the displaced and to rebuild shelters mainly consisting of bamboo and tarpaulin.

Thanks to the support of Malteser International, some 100 families who lost their property in the fire received clothing and basic necessities. The Order’s relief agency also provides healthcare. The distribution of humanitarian supplies continues.

The Cox Bazar refugee camp is thought to be the largest in the world with about 1 million displaced Rohingya living there in very difficult conditions. In August 2017, over 700,000 Rohingya fled from their homes in Myanmar to escape a terrible outbreak of violence. Most of them fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they joined the hundreds of thousands of people already living in refugee camps in the south-east of the country.