Human Rights Watch (HRW) has demanded immediate action following deadly landslides in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar refugee camps that claimed at least 17 Rohingya lives and forced more than 3,000 from their homes in July.
Bangladesh has sheltered over one million Rohingya refugees for nearly a decade, with growing families packed into bamboo and tarpaulin structures on steep, deforested slopes that become death traps during monsoon season, HRW stated.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has repeatedly cautioned about fatalities and injuries in the overcrowded settlements from cyclones, flooding, and earth movements.
HRW called on Bangladesh authorities, the U.N., and international donors to address severe overcrowding and restore funding for embankments, drainage systems, access roads, and emergency relocation sites.
“Every monsoon is becoming increasingly deadly for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, with denuded hills sliding away under makeshift structures, as the funding to buttress the camps has dried up,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at HRW.
“These are not simply natural disasters, but a predictable outcome of policies that put refugees’ lives at risk,” she said.
HRW conducted interviews with nine individuals, including five Rohingya refugees affected by the landslides and four humanitarian workers engaged in emergency response efforts.
A water, sanitation, and hygiene civil engineer told HRW the settlement design was flawed from the beginning, with camps constructed by cutting into hillsides without proper drainage systems. Funding reductions have prevented sustainable landslide prevention measures, while Bangladesh prohibits permanent construction in the camps.
The Rohingya Coordination Platform reported 286 weather-related incidents across Cox’s Bazar camps between 4 and 9 July, affecting 26,119 refugees.
These incidents included 95 landslides that displaced 4,307 people, partially damaged 2,809 shelters, and completely destroyed 13 structures.
Learning centres, toilet facilities, tap-water points, retaining walls, pathways, stairways, bridges, and roads also sustained damage.
Bangladesh authorities relocated more than 1,000 refugees from high-risk zones, though many refused to abandon their homes.
Refugees fear leaving their shelters due to intense demand for housing, aid workers reported. Emergency relocation remains difficult because camps lack adequate space, and temporary sites such as learning centres often provide insufficient privacy and services.
At least 152,000 Rohingya refugees have reached Cox’s Bazar since fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) resumed in November 2023.
The Shelter and Camp Coordination and Camp Management appeal stands at just 42 per cent funded, with $73.9 USD million still required, while the disaster risk management plan faces a $23.2 million USD shortfall.
Newly arrived refugees are unable to receive formal shelter allocations and must rent or purchase unsafe spaces, HRW stated.
One man who arrived in Bangladesh in August 2024 lost two daughters and two grandchildren on July 6 when the hillside collapsed beneath the makeshift shelter he had built after being denied housing by aid organisations.
“I didn’t know the hill would collapse like this,” he said.
The initial 2025 Joint Response Plan anticipated 50,000 new arrivals, but three times that number have now entered the camps, rendering planning figures inadequate.
