20160504 Myanmar Fire sweeps through Sittwe IDP camp
Myanmar May 04 2016 “Houses” “Other”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 30 to 69 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire sweeps through Sittwe IDP camp
Updated: 2016-05-04
[Left] IDP camp residents watch firefighters extinguish the flames at the Baw Du Ba 2 camp near Sittwe, Rakhine State, yesterday. The fire broke out in the morning, with initial reports suggesting a cooking fire started the blaze.
[Right] As many as 2000 Muslim IDPs have lost their shelters after a fire believed to have been started by a cooking fire swept through the Baw Du Ba 2 camp yesterday morning.
A devastating fire ripped through the Baw Du Ba 2 camp near the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe yesterday morning, destroying shelters for some 2000 Muslims confined there since communal conflict erupted in 2012.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said at least 14 people were injured and there were unconfirmed reports of deaths.
Initial reports suggested the fire was caused by a cooking accident. “The exact number of affected long-houses is unconfirmed but first reports indicate that 44 were destroyed and between five and nine badly damaged. An estimated 440 households – about 2000 individuals – were affected, but exact numbers are unconfirmed,” OCHA said.
The camp, which is also known as Baw Du Pha, lies just northwest of Sittwe close to the coast. The UN did not state the ethnicity of its residents, said to number 6512. Aid workers and Rohingya activists said many are stateless Rohingya, who were officially refered to as Bengalis by the previous government.
Firefighters were said to have arrived fairly promptly to extinguish the blaze which tore through the flimsy bamboo structures in less than an hour, leaving residents little time to retrieve food and their meagre belongings.
U Min Aung, spokesperson for the Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Department, said more than 448 temporary tents were being arranged for families without shelter. He said the fire had destroyed 56 out of a total of 144 longhouses in the IDP camp which, according to his numbers, has a total of 6923 Muslim residents.
OCHA said local and humanitarian organisations were supporting the authorities in responding to immediate needs in medical aid and shelter. They would also assess food, water and sanitation needs, and other basic necessities in coming days, the UN added.
“There are more than 90,000 people living in the internment camps in Sittwe township alone. They’re confined to these camps, denied the right to liberty. This fire spotlights the urgent need for the authorities to respect displaced persons’ right to return home, and to lift restrictions on Rohingya, Kaman and other Muslims,” said Matthew Smith, director of rights group Fortify Rights.
The UN and other organisations have repeatedly condemned squalid conditions in the camps and restrictions on freedom of movement, as well as access to healthcare and education.
Mr Smith noted that the government had “relocated” about 20,000 displaced Rohingya in 2015, “earning favour with the diplomatic community”. But he said many of these returns were involuntary and those relocated were still subject to severe restrictions on freedom of movement.
UN officials, who asked not to be named, said most of those 20,000 had moved very short distances, but in some cases were in better shelters while still denied freedom of movement.
“The government would be well advised to address it [the issue] immediately in a rights-respecting way. Apartheid is not the answer, it’s an international crime,” Mr Smith said.
Web Source: Myanmar Times
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/20097-fire-sweeps-through-sittwe-idp-camp.html