Barbed wire fences trapped refugees during fire: HRW

The barbed wire fencing around the camps greatly hindered Rohingya refugees' attempts to escape the massive fire that occurred in Cox's Bazar on March 22, stated a Human Rights Watch statement yesterday.

"The Bangladesh government should immediately remove the fencing surrounding the camps in Cox's Bazar and promptly issue the results of its investigation into the deadly fire," said the organisation.

"At least 15 people, including 6 children, were killed in the fire, and over 50,000 people were displaced. However, with nearly 400 people reported missing, the actual number of fatalities is yet unknown. Hundreds were injured, some while trying to escape the blaze by climbing over or cutting through barbed wire fencing," stated HRW's statement.

"Refugees have horrifying accounts of being trapped inside barbed wire fencing as the fire swept through the Rohingya refugee camps," said the statement citing Brad Adams the Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

To substantiate their allegation, the organisation interviewed 17 witnesses and refugees who lost family members during the fire, all of whom said that the barbed wire fencing that authorities built around the camps prevented them from escaping.

A father who lost his 5-year-old son in the fire told Human Rights Watch that the fencing left refugees with only one option to escape -- through the camp's main entrance. "My wife and I lost our son when everyone rushed to escape from the fire in camp 9," the statement quoted him as saying.

"Everyone was rushing to the main entrance of the camps, which is the only exit route. Other sides are surrounded by fencing.When my son got lost, he tried to go back to our shelter searching for us. That is where we found his burned body. We were able to identify him only by his red pants. If there had been no fence, people could have escaped using different routes," said the father, as per the statement.

HRW pointed out that the fences were made as per the recommendation of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defense in 2019, as a security measure so that movement of people to and from the camps can be monitored.

"However, instead of making the refugees safe, the fencing denied them freedom of movement and placed them at serious risk when they needed to evacuate in an emergency or if they needed to obtain emergency medical and other humanitarian services," said the statement.

During the recent fires, the fencing in particular limited the ability of older people, children, and people with disabilities to flee, it added. Refugees told HRW that people were frantically trying to escape the fire by climbing over or cutting through the barbed wire fence."

The statement stated that a refugee from camp 9 told HRW that because of the fencing it took him nearly an hour to get out of the camp. Meanwhile, firefighters were delayed due to the fencing because they needed to use different routes to reach the fire, the refugees told HRW.

The statement pointed out that the blaze erupted in camp 8W and rapidly spread to three adjacent camps – 8E, 9, and 10, destroying roughly 61 hectares and at least 10,000 shelters in the camps. It was the biggest fire in the camps since 2017, noted HRW, and added that this was the third fire in the camps in just four days.

"Bangladesh is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of movement. While the authorities have a duty to protect camp residents, security measures should not infringe upon basic rights and humanitarian needs. The fencing at the Cox's Bazar refugee camps did not meet the international law standards of necessity and proportionality for restricting free movement. Restrictions on freedom of movement and other rights cannot be imposed on a discriminatory basis, including by nationality," said the statement.

"The authorities should work with humanitarian agencies and remove the fences, and respect the refugees' freedom of movement," it added citing Brad Adams.