Around 100 Rohingya refugees were left homeless after a massive blaze tore through the camp of around 30 ramshackle shelters in Haryana’s Nuh district on Wednesday night.
Authorities have said that the fire was caused by a short circuit. “The fire started from a hut when we were inside the Masjid doing Isha prayers. It spread quickly, reducing the camp to ashes in minutes,” said Jafrullah, a Rohingya activist.
The fire triggered chaos with people running and screaming as the sky was filled with flames and smoke. However, no loss of life or injury has been reported. Three fire tenders were put into service to extinguish the fire.
Indian Express cited authorities saying that they were making arrangements for temporary accommodation for the displaced families. An investigation has been opened to ascertain the cause and consequence of the fire.
The camp was also engulfed by fire in 2018 when refugees were left homeless. It took them years to rebuild the shelter made of bamboo sticks and plastic sheets. Now tragedy has again struck them.
“We have documented more than 15 major fire incidents in Rohingya camps since 2012 across India where at least 4 people died,” said Ali Johar, a Rohingya activist.
Rohingya rights groups demanded that authorities and humanitarian groups help in the rehabilitation of the victims.
“In such heartfelt tragedies’ girls, women, children, and even elderly people lost their dignity so that we request the government of India, UNHCR and other NGOs to help them out from such heartfelt tragedy,” Sabber Kyaw Min, the founder of Rohingya Human Rights Initiative, said in a statement.
A total of 32 makeshift houses were gutted in the fire mishap yester night at Firozpur Namak village at Nuh in Haryana. All the settlement belonged to Rohingya Refugees who came here in 2012. We at Miles2smile Foundation have started our relief work here.(1/3) pic.twitter.com/zbDESBa7vj— Aasif Mujtaba (@MujtabaAasif) December 16, 2021
Aasif Mujtaba who runs Miles2Smiles Foundation in New Delhi said his group has started our relief work at the camp after the fire.
“We have distributed woollen clothes and 34 good quality blankets to these distressed families. Arrangements for five toilets and a community kitchen is underway. It would be done before 7 pm tonight. Arrangements for Drinking water are already made. We got five big water tanks,” Mutaba announced on Twitter.
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Rushda Fathima Khan is the Staff Reporter for The Cognate.
