Sejuti Mourin: Visiting UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, George Okoth-Obbo, yesterday visited Rohingya camps to review UNHCR’s work on the ground as well as to assess emergency response and monsoon preparations, reports UNB.
The Assistant High Commissioner visited the main Kutupalong refugee site in Ukhia sub-district and reviewed UNHCR’s work there.
“It is a critical moment”, he said in a statement, “We all must do everything necessary to prevent that a new disaster follows the painful experience that refugees have already lived.”
It is estimated that 200,000 Rohingya could be at danger of landslides and flooding. UNHCR and its partners have been working in trying to mitigate the risks inside the settlements, as well as relocating families who would potentially lose their homes due to landslides to safer areas, said UNHCR.
Okoth-Obbo will also visit the Camp 4 extension where additional land was recently allocated by the Bangladesh government to help families at most risk of landslides during the monsoon.
UNHCR and partners are currently installing shelters and services on an initial 12 acres of newly-prepared land that could provide homes for nearly 500 families.
Okoth-Obbo will also be visiting other refugee settlements in Nayapara and Chakmarkul before he returns to Dhaka for the final commitments of his mission.