Rohingya Camps Could Become People Soup

The gentle hammering of a near century-old Singer sewing machine can be heard coming from inside a tent at a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh.

Inside the tent's bright green, tarpaulin walls 22-year-old Sabura is sewing a blouse.

A yellow tape measure around her neck pokes out from under her green headscarf and ladybug-inspired spotty top.

The Rohingya refugee learned to sew from a neighbour in her Myanmar village.

Sabura, her husband, parents and siblings fled their village in October after the Myanmar military burned it down in retaliation for attacks from a group of Islamic extremists.

The family undertook the treacherous 15-day journey through the jungle on foot to get to safety.

They are part of the 656,000-strong exodus of Rohingya people who crossed the border into camps near Bangldesh's resort town of Cox's Bazar since late August.

Sabura bought her sewing machine for the equivalent of $76 from a market after trading some gold earrings.

Some of her creations adorn the sides of her tent, chu dau tu iris garden my dinh along with a broken mirror. Coloured cotton wheels hang from the ceiling.

Refugee customers bring her fabric to tailor clothes and she charges them whatever they can afford which might be as little as 20 Bangladeshi Taka (31 Australian cents).

Today she earned 40 Taka.

The money helps her family buy vegetables and fish to complement the modest fortnightly package of rice and lentils aid groups in the camp supply.

"Many people don't have clothes here - they came here with only what they were wearing," Sabura said through an interpreter.

A lack of clothing sees Rohingya girls and women stay hidden inside their tents because they prefer to dress modestly as part of their Islamic faith.

Sabura said sewing is an important distraction from traumatic memories.

Across the camp, Ruhul Amin, 18, is also running a small business to support his parents and eight siblings.

With his trusty hot-coal-powered iron he's the resident ironing man.

He used to work in a hotel back in Myanmar - ironing guests' clothes.

Refugees are looking for a small sense of dignity in unwrinkled clothes, Ruhul says through an interpreter.

He charges five Taka, less than one Australian cent, to iron a pair of pants and today earned the equivalent of $2.30.

Refugees like Sabura and Ruhul are trying to restore a sense of normality to their shattered lives, but more challenges loom.

Cyclone and heavy monsoon rain have the potential to turn the camp into people soup.

The land where the Rohingya have built their tent cities used to be lush jungle only a matter of months ago.

Now it is likely to become mudslide central.

Some tents are on flood plains while others precariously sit on the side of small slopes.

There's also some risk the camps could be cut off from aid groups based out of Cox's Bazar, despite efforts by the Bangladesh government to put up bollards and sandbags to prevent storm surges along the coastal road.

There are existing cyclone shelters for the local population nearby, but it's doubtful whether they'll be able to cope with the huge Rohingya influx.

Save the Children spokeswoman Daphnee Cook said the organisation was already undertaking preparations for the upcoming cyclone season expected around April and monsoon rains that will come in June.

"There's a two to three-day window between a cyclone being forecast and it actually striking," she told AAP. Community leaders are being trained on safety procedures.

The aid chu dau tu chung cu iris garden group has focused on upgrading shelters, roads and bridges within the camps so they withstand extreme weather.

Engineers are scouting locations such as mosques to be used as cyclone shelters as well as improving drainage.

Bamboo reinforcements have been put into hills and sandbag retaining walls built to stop landslides, and relocating some tents as risk.

A long-term plan is to plant Vetiver clump grass around the camp to reduce erosion.

Save the Children has just set up its ninth health clinic in the camps.

Once the wet weather arrives health workers will face waterborne disease outbreaks particularly cholera and diarrhoea.

For now, daily life in the refugee camp continues with some level of normality - one stitch and pant leg at a time.

* Donate to the Save the Children crisis appeal at website or by calling 1800 76 00 11.

* AAP reporter Lisa Martin and photographer Tracey Nearmy travelled to Bangladesh with assistance from Save the Children.