"Not a permanent home, but a safer place to live." Written by Abu Taleb Md Saqib, Senior Communications Officer, Cox’s Bazar Sub-Delegation, IFRC As monsoon rain battered Cox's Bazar this year, more than 5,500 shelters across Cox’s Bazar camps were damaged by rainwater, strong winds and landslides. Families were once again forced to repair homes, relocate to safer areas or seek temporary refuge. Yet among the affected shelters, none of the stronger Temporary Safer Shelters (TSS) supported by the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) and the IFRC sustained significant damage. This offered a glimpse of what is possible in one of the world's largest and most disaster-prone settlements, where more than one million Rohingya people continue to face overlapping risks from fire, flooding, storms and landslides. Nearly nine years after the mass displacement of Rohingya people into Bangladesh in August 2017, safer shelter remains one of the community's most urgent needs. For Bashir Ahmod, 36, and his wife Rabeya Basri, 30, moving into a Temporary Safer Shelter with their two children in November 2025 brought a sense of relief after years of uncertainty. Having fled their home in Rakhine State, Myanmar, they had spent years living with insecurity in the camps. "Now, we can sleep without being scared," said Bashir. His wife Rabeya added: "This shelter has given my children a safer place to live and I feel more protected." A new approach to safer shelters The idea for the Temporary Safer Shelter did not emerge overnight. Since 2017, Rohingya families have lived in bamboo shelters across 33 camps in Cox’s Bazar. Many were upgraded in 2021 to Midterm Shelters using treated bamboo, metal footings and tarpaulin, but these structures require frequent repairs, which not only increase humanitarian operational costs but also pose safety risks to residents. As Cox’s Bazar is a high-risk area for multiple natural hazards, these shelters are constantly expos
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