Bangladesh moving 1,500 more Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char island

The government is relocating around 1,500 more Rohingya refugees to the Bhasan Char island in Noakhali.

Dozens of buses carrying the Rohingya families from the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps left the Ukhiya Degree College ground on Sunday afternoon for Chattogram, from where they will be shipped to the island.

Officials at the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner confirmed the development, but declined to be named or give an exact number of refugees being moved in the fourth batch.

At least 3,000 rohingya refugees were interested in shifting to Bhasan Char in this phase, said one of the officials.

The government relocated more than 6,600 refugees to the island in three phases from Dec 4 last year.

The United Nations and international groups expressed concern over the voluntary relocation of the refugees and their safety in the remote island.

The government, which has built homes for around 100,000 refugees, said the numerous challenges associated with the temporary hosting of the persecuted Rohingya from Myanmar have “compelled” it to plan the relocation.

The government said it “strictly” followed the principle of voluntariness and maintained “utmost transparency” in the relocation process, noting that any arrangement in Bangladesh for the Rohingya is solely temporary in nature and they must be repatriated to their homeland Myanmar ultimately.

Many of the refugees who have moved to the island expressed satisfaction over the arrangements, which they say are better than those of the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.