By: Camp Correspondent
Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh — 4 July 2025 |
A 12-year-old Rohingya boy, Mohammed Reyas, son of Md Anowar, tragically lost his life in a CNG (auto-rickshaw) accident near the border of Camp-8W and Camp-18 on Friday evening.
The accident occurred at approximately 4:45 p.m., when Reyas—who had recently fled Myanmar—was playing near the roadside with friends and was struck by a passing CNG vehicle. He was rushed to the MSF hospital in Camp-8W, but doctors pronounced him dead at 5:00 p.m. due to severe head injuries.
Reyas and his family had escaped from Labadaung village in Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State, and arrived in Bangladesh in March 2025, fleeing escalating violence and persecution by the Arakan Army (AA). The family is currently residing in Camp-18, under the supervision of Sub-Majhi Solim Ullah.
His untimely death has cast a shadow over a community already burdened by trauma and loss.
“He had just enrolled in Class 4,” said a neighbor. “He wanted to study and live in peace. Now, he’s gone—just like that.”
Since early 2024, intensified military offensives by the Arakan Army in northern Rakhine have forced more than 40,000 Rohingya to flee, with at least 2,500 deaths reported between March and August last year, according to international monitoring groups.
“Despite their public promises to protect Rohingya, their actions have spoken otherwise,” said Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, in a statement to The New Humanitarian. “Entire towns have been emptied, and lives shattered.”
Reyas’s death is a stark reminder that even in places of refuge, Rohingya children remain vulnerable—to unsafe environments, poor infrastructure, and the psychological toll of displacement. While his family sought safety in Bangladesh, the dangers that come with overcrowded camps and inadequate protection continue to claim innocent lives.
Aid groups and camp leaders are calling for stricter traffic control measures inside the camps to prevent further tragedies. Reyas’s family, like many others, had come seeking safety and a future. Instead, they are now mourning the loss of a child who never had the chance to grow up.
