Between the Rains and Flames: Life in the Rohingya Refugee Camp

By Hafizur Rahman, Camp Correspondent

Cox’s Bazar, May 29, 2025 — Living in the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar is never easy. But during the monsoon season, life becomes almost unbearable.

As Rohingya refugees, we survive with limited resources year-round—but when the rains arrive, our struggle deepens. Our shelters—made of bamboo and tarpaulin—cannot withstand strong winds or heavy rainfall. Flooding, landslides, and waterlogging become daily threats. Some families lose everything overnight. Others live in fear, watching their walls sag, their roofs drip, wondering if this will be the night everything falls apart.

Pathways turn into mud rivers. Latrines become inaccessible. Drinking water gets contaminated. For children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, this season is especially cruel. Learning centers close. Medical help becomes harder to reach. Waterborne diseases spread quickly. And yet—we endure. Because we have no choice.

But when the monsoon ends, the fear doesn’t.

The dry season brings scorching heat. Fires break out easily in the tightly packed shelters. One small spark—sometimes from a stove, sometimes from an electric short—can devour hundreds of homes in minutes. We live in fear of fire, just as we fear the flood.

There is no season of safety.
In the rains, we fear collapse.
In the heat, we fear fire.
In the cold, we fear that our shelters won’t hold.

Still, we rise every day and rebuild what we can. Our resilience is strong—but resilience is not enough.

We need more support. Not just during emergencies, but year-round. We need stronger shelters, better drainage, safer cooking setups, accessible healthcare, and emergency preparedness training. These are not luxuries—they are survival tools.

We don’t ask the world for pity—we ask for partnership.

Let the world remember:
We are not just refugees.
We are humans, survivors, and a community that still dares to hope.