At least nine people, including seven members of two Rohingya families, were killed after heavy monsoon rains triggered multiple landslides in and around Rohingya refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh early Monday, underscoring the persistent humanitarian and environmental risks facing the world’s largest refugee settlement.
According to Bangladeshi authorities, eight of the victims were Rohingya refugees living inside the camps in Ukhiya, while another person died after a hillside collapsed onto a home in Cox’s Bazar municipality. Several others were injured, and numerous makeshift shelters were damaged as mud and debris swept through vulnerable hillside settlements.
ANM Shajadur Rahman, Superintendent of Police in Cox’s Bazar, told The Voice that eight deaths occurred inside the Rohingya camps while one fatality was reported within the municipality. He added that many dwellings were also damaged by landslides triggered by the torrential rainfall.
Torrential monsoon rains overwhelm camps
More than 250 millimeters (about 10 inches) of rain fell across Cox’s Bazar district during the 24 hours ending Monday morning, according to local authorities, with the Bangladesh Meteorological Department forecasting continued heavy rainfall over the following two days.
The prolonged downpour saturated the steep hillsides where thousands of refugee shelters are built, increasing the risk of landslides and flash flooding.
Authorities have begun relocating families living in particularly dangerous areas as emergency responders continue to monitor conditions across the camps.
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh’s Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, said rescue and evacuation efforts were underway to prevent further casualties.
“We’re moving people out of high-risk areas as quickly as possible to prevent any more casualties,” Rahman told Reuters on Monday after the landslides struck several Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.
Victims buried while asleep
Officials said the landslides struck multiple locations across the refugee settlements before dawn, when most residents were asleep inside bamboo-and-tarpaulin shelters.
The densely populated camps, established on steep deforested hillsides, remain especially vulnerable during Bangladesh’s annual monsoon season.
Police official Tumpa Das told The Voice, “Eight people have died in landslides caused by heavy rain,” she said on Monday while confirming the fatalities in the Rohingya camps.
Emergency teams, volunteers and camp authorities continued clearing debris and searching damaged areas while relocating residents from unstable slopes.
World’s largest refugee settlement
The Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar host more than 1.2 million refugees, most of whom fled a brutal military crackdown in neighboring Myanmar’s Rakhine State in 2017.
The massive influx forced humanitarian agencies and Bangladeshi authorities to rapidly establish emergency settlements across hilly terrain that had previously been covered by forest. Although extensive engineering work—including retaining walls, drainage systems and slope stabilization—has been carried out over the years, large sections of the camps remain highly susceptible to landslides during periods of intense rainfall.
Aid agencies have repeatedly warned that the combination of fragile shelters, steep slopes, overcrowding and increasingly extreme weather linked to climate change continues to threaten refugee safety during every monsoon season.
Seasonal disaster repeats
Landslides and flash floods are recurring hazards in Bangladesh’s southeastern hill districts between June and September.
Deforestation, rapid and often unplanned construction on unstable hillsides, and prolonged heavy rainfall significantly increase the likelihood of deadly slope failures. Cox’s Bazar has experienced repeated monsoon disasters over the past decade, affecting both local residents and Rohingya refugees.
Humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations and its partners, have invested in slope protection, drainage improvements, volunteer emergency response teams and early warning systems within the refugee camps. Nevertheless, officials acknowledge that complete risk elimination is impossible because of the terrain and the sheer size of the refugee population.
