Rohingyas moved to island shelters as 'Amphan' nears
Authorities in Bangladesh have moved hundreds of Rohingya refugees living on a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal to storm shelters as super cyclone Amphan, the strongest recorded in your community, barrels down, they said on Wednesday.
The eastern edge of the storm headed for Bangladesh and neighbouring India is likely to batter Bhasan Char island, where 306 Rohingya, members of a persecuted minority from Myanmar, were sent this month after being rescued from boats, reports Reuters.
"Each block includes a cyclone centre and they have already been moved to the centre," said Bimal Chakma, a senior official of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission.
The US has called for the refugees to be moved to the mainland to become listed on more than a million more who live in sprawling camps beyond your town of Cox’s Bazar.
Although that settlement, the world’s major refugee camp, is likely to escape the worst of the storm, the danger level has been raised to nine from six, signifying a extreme threat.
Heavy rain and high winds lashed the flimsy shelters, built on hills susceptible to landslides, and warning flag were raised to warn refugees to remain inside.
Aid staff say the cyclone could hamper efforts to regulate a coronavirus outbreak in the camps, which reported their first infections the other day.
"It is already a huge challenge to support the spread of coronavirus among the Rohingya refugees moving into over-crowded camps, sharing water and toilet facilities," said Dipankar Datta, the united states director of charity Oxfam in Bangladesh.
Water-borne and other infections were also a threat, he added in a statement.
Bangladeshis and Rohingya are among a large number of volunteers been trained in emergency response measures who received life-jackets and torches.
"We are employing megaphones and the mosque microphones to warn people," said Sabbir Ahmed, a 24-year-old Rohingya volunteer.
Refugees have already been told to head for madrasas and schools if the storm destroys shelters, he told Reuters by telephone, adding, "If it hits the camps there will be huge destruction."
