NPR

Why Elephants Pose A Threat To Rohingya Refugees

Several of the refugee camps in Bangladesh have had to set up what the U.N. calls a "tusk force" to respond when elephants enter.
Rohingya refugees use a mock elephant during a training session on how to respond to elephant incursions at the Kutupalong refugee camp. The massive refugee camp sits in what used to be a migratory path for elephants moving between Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Foyes Ullah's first thought was — burglars! It was 2 in the morning in a crowded part of the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh, and a commotion had just jolted him awake. People outside were yelling. The walls of his shelter were trembling. He could hear bamboo snapping as if someone were ripping apart a neighboring hut.

His neighbor was screaming, "Who is hitting my house? Who is there? But no one was responding," Ullah says. He wanted to go outside but

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