Amnesty International has called on the Bangladesh authorities to address violence and heighten security inside the camps in Cox’s Bazar where over one million Rohingya people are living.
The London-based human rights organisation made the call on Friday, in reference to the reported clashes that broke out in the Rohingya camps on Wednesday.
Since then, Amnesty claimed, at least 2,000 Rohingya, the ethnic Myanmar people displaced by military crackdown, have been forced to flee their shelters to other camps.
The violence broke out between two rival factions that sought to control illicit trade of contraband drugs inside the camps. There was a report of arson in Kutupalong camp.
“The situation inside the camps is highly precarious and, unless the authorities take the necessary action to quell the violence and protect refugees, there’s a serious risk of further bloodshed,” said Saad Hammadi, Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner.
“Those suffering most are the Rohingya refugees caught in the middle,” he added.
Amnesty International urged the Bangladeshi authorities to heighten security inside the camps as long as necessary to ensure their safety and launch an immediate and impartial investigation into the violence to bring those responsible to justice.
Additional security personnel were said to have been deployed at the camps.
Amnesty quoted a minister as saying that watchtowers and close circuit television cameras would be installed to increase surveillance inside the camps.
In view of the authorities’ recent crackdown on illegal drug trade, some Rohingya people fear ‘greater risk’, said the Amnesty’s statement.
It said the Rohingya are also afraid that the authorities could use the ongoing violence as a pretext to relocate them to Bhashan Char, a remote silt island in the Bay of Bengal that has yet to complete the United Nations' assessment for safe habitation.
“Relocating the refugees to Bhashan Char will neither end their current insecurity nor bring about a durable solution to the refugee crisis. Instead, authorities must engage with the Rohingya refugees, take note of their concerns and ensure participation in the decisions that affect them,” said Saad Hammadi.