Eight killed in landslides at Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh

At least eight Rohingya Muslims, including some children, were killed and several others injured early on Monday after heavy monsoon rains triggered multiple landslides at refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh, officials said.

More than 1.2 million Rohingya live in overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar, the world’s largest refugee settlement, after fleeing a 2017 military crack downing neighboring Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they are accused of being outsiders.

Most families live in makeshift shelters made of bamboo and plastic sheets on steep, deforested hillsides that are highly vulnerable to landslides during the annual monsoon season.

The landslides hit four locations across the camps, burying shelters under mud and debris while residents were asleep. A Bangladeshi man was killed and two family members were injured when part of a hillside collapsed onto their house in Cox's Bazar, police said.

“Eight people have died in landslides caused by heavy rain,” said Tumpa Das, a police official in Cox’s Bazar.

She said continued rainfall had increased the risk of further landslides, with thousands of refugees still living on unstable slopes.

"We’re moving people out of high-risk areas as quickly as possible to prevent any more casualties,” said Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, the Bangladeshi official tasked with refugee relief and repatriation.

The deaths come as renewed fighting in Myanmar’s Rakhine State raises concern of a fresh influx of Rohingya refugees across the border. Bangladeshi authorities have stepped up monitoring along the frontier amid reports of people gathering near the border seeking to enter the country.

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department has forecast more heavy rain in the coming days, prompting authorities to remain on alert for additional landslides and flash floods.

Landslides and flooding are common during the monsoon season in the refugee camps, often killing people and damaging homes, roads and other facilities.

-Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Kate Mayberry/Reuters