News & Stories

Having fled persecution in Myanmar and lived in appalling conditions for many years in Bangladesh, hundreds of refugee families have now been requested by the Bangladeshi authorities to evacuate and leave without being provided with anywhere else to go. Since March 7, this is the situation facing hundreds of families based in a makeshift camp near Teknaf. "Tal" camp, as it is commonly referred to, consists of small ramshackle shelters situated in an area between the river Naf and the highway leading to the city of Cox's Bazaar.

Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, has been heavily affected by recent monsoonal flooding. Low areas of the city have been inundated, the general hygiene situation has deteriorated, and it has become more difficult to access clean drinking water. As a result, there has been a huge increase in the number of people affected by diarrhoea, including cases of severe diarrhoea and cholera. The International Centre for Diarrhoea Diseases Research in Dhaka has requested support in providing assistance to people in need, since the flooding makes it difficult to move around the city.

Forty days after starting emergency assistance for people affected by cyclone Sidr in southern Bangladesh, the international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has ended its relief work in the area. The health situation of those affected has stabilized and the presence of other aid organizations has increased since the cyclone hit on Nov. 16, 2007.

On Tuesday, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) witnessed a group of around 30 police with local officials enter Kutupalong makeshift camp in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh, and destroy 259 homes, looting people’s possessions in the process. The building material from the destroyed homes was then removed into the official United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) camp, immediately adjacent. Other residents of the makeshift camp were told that they have 48 hours to clear their homes or they will be burnt down.