Several deadly fire incidents in overcrowded Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh over the past several weeks point to a "very worrying trend," say experts.

Several people are feared dead and tens of thousands have fled a huge blaze engulfing Rohingya refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh - in the third fire to hit the settlements in four days.

A video captured by a member of a local NGO shows Rohingya refugees fleeing from a camp in southeastern Bangladesh as thick columns of smoke rise above shanty homes. It is the third fire in four days to hit the settlements in the Cox's Bazar district, that houses nearly one million of the Muslim minority from Myanmar.

A sprawling fire has devastated a Cox's Bazar camp where Rohingya Muslims live. Humanitarian groups fear it might strip hundreds of thousands of refugees of shelter.

Many of the passengers on board are suffering extreme dehydration, and some have already died. The UNHCR has called on governments to immediately rescue the refugees, who have been at sea for more than a week.

Bangladesh has begun relocating a second group of nearly 1,000 Rohingya refugees to a low-lying island in the Bay of Bengal, despite calls from human rights groups to halt the process.

Officials say none of them are being moved against their will, and that it would ease overcrowding in camps that are home to more than 1 million Rohingya who have fled neighbouring Myanmar.

In the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, more than a million people are unaware of the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world due to a government-sanctioned internet shutdown that began a year ago.⁣ ⁣

Life is grim for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh's sprawling camps. They are not allowed to work and are reduced to begging. Many women turn to the sex industry, while others are lured into prostitution abroad by empty promises of jobs and marriage.

Some 3,450 Rohingya refugees were due to be sent back to Myanmar from Bangladesh, but none appeared at the repatriation center. The UN has confirmed that abuse tantamount to genocide had occurred in Myanmar.

In an interview with DW, Bangladesh's Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen expressed disappointment over "inadequate" international pressure on Myanmar to take back the Rohingya refugees currently camped in Cox's Bazar.

Islam fills the education vacuum for refugee Rohingya children.