The genocide launched by the Burmese authorities has led some 688,000 Rohingyas from a Muslim minority to flee Myanmar to seek refuge in insanitary camps throughout southern Bangladesh.
This massive influx of refugees has had a definite impact on Bangladesh's environment and forests. To build the various refugee camps, massive deforestation has been put in place.
Today, logging is one of the main sources of Rohingya income in the camps. The sale allows them to help them support themselves. The wood is used for heating and cooking or for building money shelters.
Every day, thousands of refugees, men, women and children go to the forests around the camps to cut the precious wood. This is complicated by the presence of wild elephants or local thieves who force refugees to pay a sum of money to continue their harvest of wood. An activity not without risks but necessary for their survival.