DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Days of heavy rainfall have pounded Rohingya refugee camps in southern Bangladesh, destroying dwellings and sending thousands of people to live with extended families or in communal shelters.
In the 24 hours through Wednesday afternoon, more than 11.8 inches of rain fell on the camps in Cox's Bazar district hosting more than 800,000 Rohingya, the U.N. refugee agency said. That's nearly half the average July rainfall in a single day, and more heavy downpours are expected in the next few days, with the monsoon season stretching over the next three months.
"The situation is further compounded by the covid-19 pandemic. There is currently a strict national lockdown in response to rising cases across the country," the agency said.
It said six people died in the camps this week -- five people in a landslide caused by the rains and a child swept away by floodwaters.
Citing initial reports, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said more than 12,000 refugees were affected by the heavy rain and an estimated 2,500 shelters were damaged or destroyed. More than 5,000 refugees have been temporarily relocated to other family members' shelters or communal facilities, the agency said.
Hannah Macdonald, a spokesperson for the U.N. agency, said in an email that emergency response teams have been deployed to help families.
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Refugees said the floodwaters made it hard to eat meals and rest.
"Due to the continuous rainfall for the last four days, today my house is full of water," said Khatija Begum, who has five children. "We are not even able to eat." Begum said she fears her children will drown or die in their sleep.
The refugee agency said the bad weather, landslides and floods have further exacerbated the suffering and humanitarian needs of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
Cyclones, heavy monsoon rains, floods, landslides and other natural hazards are an annual difficulty in the camps. More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled to refugee camps in Bangladesh since August 2017, when the military in Buddhist-majority Burma began a harsh crackdown on the Muslim ethnic group following an attack by insurgents.
The crackdown included rapes, killings and the torching of thousands of homes, and was termed ethnic cleansing by global rights groups and the United Nations. While Bangladesh and Burma have sought to arrange repatriations, the Rohingya are too fearful to return home.
Burma is often called Myanmar, a name that military authorities adopted in 1989. Some nations, such as the United States and Britain, have refused to adopt the name change.
The International Organization for Migration says Cox's Bazar district, where more than 1 million Rohingya refugees live, is one of the most disaster-prone parts of Bangladesh.
It is a delta nation crisscrossed by many rivers that regularly receives intense rainfall because of its monsoon climate and location on the Bay of Bengal, where the warm waters can generate destructive tropical cyclones.