150,000 Rohingya Face Landslide Terror in Bangladesh Camps...

Over 150,000 newly arrived Rohingya refugees have entered Bangladesh's 33 camps in Cox's Bazar in recent months, pushing population density above 124,000 people per square mile across just 9.2 square miles of hillside terrain. The camps, built on cleared forest land after 2017, face mounting landslide risk: between July 4 and 19 alone, more than 200 slides killed at least 15 people. A 2025 study found that slope units with moderate-to-high landslide susceptibility nearly tripled from 109 to 291 between the initial influx and 2021, directly linked to landscape changes needed to house refugees. Expanding the camps further would destroy more forest, yet Bangladesh says it lacks funds to stabilize the vulnerable hillsides.