Cox

Like in 2017, when the Rohingya crisis hit Bangladesh, Turkey is once more one of the first countries to respond to the unprecedented damage caused by the massive fire that engulfed a large part of the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar.

Turkish PM hands out food to Rohingya Muslims in refugee camp in Cox’s Bazaar

Bangladesh needs "massive international assistance" to feed and shelter the 436,000 Rohingya who have fled Myanmar in recent weeks, the head of the U.N. refugee agency said on Sept. 24.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said there were "immense" challenges after visiting the overflowing camps around Cox's Bazar in southern Bangladesh.

Bangladesh's army was ordered Sept. 20 to take a bigger role helping hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled violence in Myanmar, amid warnings it could take six months to register the new refugees.

Bangladesh will use troops to deliver foreign aid to the border town that has been overwhelmed by Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar, authorities announced.

The move follows criticism of the chaotic conditions in which relief supplies have been handed out at the huge camps around Cox's Bazar, where about 389,000 Rohingya from Myanmar's Rakhine state have arrived since Aug. 25.

A total of 87,000 mostly Rohingya refugees have arrived in Bangladesh since violence erupted in neighbouring Myanmar on Aug. 25, the United Nations said Sept. 4, amid growing international criticism of Aung San Suu Kyi.

UN human rights officials have warned of the rapidly deteriorating situation in Myanmar's Rakhine state, as tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have been fleeing towards Bangladesh. 

More than 18,000 Rohingya Muslims, many sick and some with bullet wounds, have fled the worst violence to grip northwest Myanmar in at least five years, while thousands more are stuck at the Bangladesh border or scrambling to reach it.

Cyclone Mora hit Bangladesh yesterday, packing winds of up to 135 kilometers per hour, damaging thousands of homes as more than 300,000 people fled coastal villages.

The severe storm made landfall on the coast between Cox's Bazar and the main port city of Chittagong at 6:00 am local time, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) said.

Cyclone Mora hit Bangladesh Tuesday packing winds of up to 117 kilometres per hour (73mph) after authorities evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from low-lying coastal villages, reported AFP.