New arrivals Rohingya refugees struggle to find space in the already-overcrowded Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh. Photo: UNHCR

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - Rohingya refugees are now squatting in makeshift shelters that have mushroomed along the road and on available land at Ukhiya and Teknaf areas in southeastern Bangladesh.

In the last two weeks an estimated 270,000 Rohingya refugees have sought safety in Bangladesh. The limited shelter capacity is already exhausted.

The Rohingya refugees are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar who have faced discrimination and extreme poverty for decades, according to the UN refugee agency.

They have not been allowed to exercise their basic rights including the freedom to move, right to education, work and other social, civil and political rights.

The Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar are now stateless refugees, making them even more vulnerable and adding more challenges to the search for solutions. While most of Rohingya refugees arrive on foot, mostly walking through the jungle and mountains for several days, thousands are braving long and risky voyages across the rough seas of the Bay of Bengal.

They wait on the Myanmar border to take fishing boats to Teknaf in Bangladesh.

The vast majority are women including mothers with newborn babies, families with children. They arrive in poor condition, exhausted, hungry and desperate for shelter.

“We remain concerned by continuing reports of civilians dying as they try to flee to safety,” Duniya Aslam Khan, UNHCR spokesperson, said at Friday’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

The two refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in south-east Bangladesh – home to nearly 34,000 Rohingya refugees before this influx – are now bursting at the seams.

The population has more than doubled in two weeks, totaling more than 70,000. There is an urgent need for more land and shelters.

UNHCR and its partners are working to provide protection and life-saving support to the new arrivals in Kutupalong and Nayapara camps.

“We continue to identify the most vulnerable refugees, such as unaccompanied children, women, the elderly and disabled, in need of shelter, food, water and healthcare,” the spokesperson explained.

“We are calling for the registration of all refugees upon arrival, in order to ensure their protection and access to essential services.”

Amid a dramatic increase in the number of refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Northern Rakhine state, UNHCR calls for urgent action to address the root causes of the recent surge in violence, so that people are no longer compelled to flee and can eventually return home in safety and dignity.

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Two Filipino sailors found on a life raft were rescued, AFP reported, citing a Uruguayan navy spokesman.

On Friday, a crew member sent a text saying the 312m-long (1024ft) Stellar Daisy freighter was taking on water, reports BBC.

The Uruguayan navy alerted merchant ships in the area, which began a search.

A navy spokesman said they had reported a strong smell of fuel.

The two people rescued had been found by commercial ships aiding the search, Yonhap news agency said.

"A search operation is continuing for the 22 people," a South Korean foreign ministry official told Reuters.

South Korea also requested assistance in the search from Brazil and Uruguay, the official said.

The ship, a Very Large Ore Carrier (VLOC) with a capacity of 260,000 tonnes, was being operated by a South Korean company but was flagged to the Marshall Islands, and had 16 Filipinos and 8 South Koreans on board.

It had departed from Brazil, reports said.

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A six-month-old baby girl pulled alive from the rubble died a few hours later in hospital.
The 17 storeys of the Weiguan Jinlong (Golden Dragon) apartment complex crumpled as the quake struck just before 04:00 local time on Saturday (20:00 GMT Friday), as Taiwan was beginning the lunar new year holiday
An investigation has been launched into whether the construction of the building contributed to its collapse.
Tainan City Mayor William Lai said survivors had reported legal "violations" in its construction but gave no further details.
Lai said he had contacted judicial units and that prosecutors had formally launched an investigation into the construction of the apartment building.
"We've also commissioned three independent bodies to preserve evidence during the rescue so we can assist the residents if they want to file lawsuits in the future," he said.
"We will hold the builder responsible if they have broken the law."
Hundreds of soldiers are involved in the rescue effort, with the help of high-tech equipment, sniffer dogs and cranes. Shelters are being set up for those who have lost their homes in the city of two million people.
President Ma Ying-jeou and President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, who won the election last month, are both due to visit the site of the disaster later on Monday.
Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and often sees tremors.
The quake was shallow, meaning its effects would have been amplified, the US Geological Survey said.
There were also at least five aftershocks.
The quake was felt in the capital Taipei, 300km (186 miles) away.
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Rescue teams have been trying to reach people trapped in rubble since the magnitude 6.4 quake struck just before 04:00 (20:00 GMT Friday), reports BBC.

A baby was among at least four people killed when a high-rise block collapsed. More than 300 people have been injured.

President Ma Ying-jeou promised an "all-out effort" to rescue people.

Shelters would be set up for those who had lost their homes in the city of two million people, he said when he arrived in the city.
LEANING RUINS

Television pictures showed rescue workers frantically trying to reach people trapped in collapsed buildings, using ladders to climb over piles of rubble.

One of the worst affected was the 17-storey Wei Kuan apartment complex, home to at least 256 people.

More than 200 people were rescued, but a baby, young girl and two adult men did not survive, officials said. At least 30 people are believed to still be trapped inside.

Interior Minister Chen Wei-jen said he feared more people may have been in the fallen apartment block than usual as families gathered to celebrate Chinese New Year.

He said investigators would examine whether the building's construction met requirements.

Residents told how they were able to escape from their homes in the block.

"I used a hammer to break the door of my home which was twisted and locked, and managed to climb out," one woman told local TV.

Another man tied clothes together to make a rope and lowered himself from the ninth floor to the sixth floor below, Apple Daily reports.

Irving Chu was in a hostel in central Tainan. He said he had been woken up by a tremor lasting about 40 seconds.

"It was a violent jerking motion," he told BBC World News. "The entire room was shaking. We were just holding on to things. We were shaken up."

Barry Knapp, a British man in Taiwan, said he was 240km (150 miles) north of Tainan but still felt the tremor.

"I was just in bed, about to fall asleep, and shaking started happening," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It was going on for about 20 to 30 seconds and it came in waves. It was shaking and then it eased off, but then it started shaking even harder."

The quake was shallow, meaning its effects would have been amplified, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

There have also been at least five aftershocks. The quake was felt in the capital Taipei, 300 km away.

Although the damage does not appear to be widespread, a number of tall buildings have been left leaning precariously.

There are also reports of power outages, and transport links have been disrupted on what is one of the busiest travelling days of the year ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.

Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and often sees tremors.

Beijing has offered assistance although at the moment at least, given the relatively limited scale of the disaster, it does not look as if much outside help is needed, the BBC's John Sudworth reports from the Chinese capital.

Back in 1999, when a 7.6 magnitude quake killed more than 2,300 people in central Taiwan, a similar offer of help from the mainland became embroiled in political wrangling, with Taiwan accusing China of exploiting the situation for its own political ends, our correspondent adds.

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