Bangladesh has begun relocating 1,00,000 Rohingya refugees to safer ground before the monsoon season for fear of deadly landslides and floods in the congested camps, an official said on Sunday.

Bangladesh’s refugee commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam said 1,00,000 refugees living in “priority” areas most at risk from floods and landslides would be relocated before June.

Bangladesh had allocated roughly 3,500 acres (14 sq. km) of forested land in Cox’s Bazar to the newly-arrived Rohingya. But the forest is being felled at a rate of four football fields a day, Mr. Kalam said.

Vulnerable to disasters

The once lush hillsides have turned barren, exposing the topsoil and leaving them highly vulnerable to landslides during heavy rain, he said.

“Some 2,00,000 people are vulnerable to landslides,” he said.