At least 100,000 Rohingyas at risk due to landslide threat: UN

UN report said today that over 100,000 Rohingyas huddled in various relief camps in Bangladesh are in grave danger due to landslide threat predicted in monsoons this year.

"Landslide and flood risk hazard mapping reveals that at least 100,000 people are in grave danger from these risks and require relocation to new areas or within the neighborhoods that they live in," the UN report said.

There are over 900,000 Rohingya refugees who have fled from Bangladesh after allegedly being persecuted by the army since August 25th last year. The UN had called the atrocities "ethnic cleansing" and had ordered the Myanmar government to put a stop to it.

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The "ethnic cleansing" issue was further pushed by US secretary of state Rex Tillerson after he said it is clear that the situation in northern Rakhine state "constitutes ethnic cleansing against the Rohingyas."

The Myanmar army, however, denies ethnic cleansing has taken place in the country.

"The lack of space remains the main challenge for the sector as sites are highly congested leading to extremely hard living conditions with no space for service provisions and facilities," the report added.

A recent engineering assessment said all roads in the camp would be inaccessible for trucks, and the World Food Programme is considering using porters to distribute food, minutes of a Jan. 24 meeting of aid agencies involved in logistics said, Reuters reported.

"Humanitarian partners are now building necessary infrastructure in challenging conditions, with extremely limited space," the U.N. report said.

"A high percentage of the land is unsuitable for human settlement as risks of flooding and landslides are high and are further aggravated by the congestion and extensive terracing of the hills," the UN report observed.

"The anticipated flooding and landslides in the upcoming monsoon season will make a bad situation much worse."