ROHINGYA RELOCATION TO BHASANCHAR
Shahidul Islam Chowdhury | Published: Mar 26,2019 |
It is highly unlikely that the government would be able to begin the relocation of Rohingya people living in camps in Teknaf to Bhasanchar, an island under Noakhali district, on April 15, as it would take time to complete preparations including assessing voluntariness of the refugees, a senior member of the national taskforce, or NTF, on Rohingya issues said.
The UN said on Monday it was examining the potential operational implications of setting up a humanitarian response on Bhasanchar, including the requirements, time frames and costs involved in providing services.
‘The date set earlier was indicative, not final,’ Mohammad Abul Kalam, refugee, relief and repatriation commissioner, RRRC in short, told New Age. ‘The preparations for relocation are on to decongest the existing Rohingya camps.’
Physical infrastructures including shelters in Bhasanchar island were almost ready for receiving the Rohingya people, the NTF member said, adding that ‘many tasks including making lists of persons intending to go to the island are yet to be completed.’ State minister for disaster management and relief Enamur Rahman said on March 3 that the government would start relocating Rohingyas to Bhasanchar by April 15.
Approximately one lakh people of some 23,000 Rohingya families would be shifted there, he said. Houses were built there with water, sanitation and solar electricity facilities for Rohingya people, he said.
The government and the UN authorities have discussed the matters in several meetings, but nothing was final till Monday, foreign ministry officials said.
The Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka has, however, said in a statement in Dhaka on Monday that critical protection and operational issues should be considered ‘before any relocations take place’ in order to ensure that refugees would be able to live in safe and sustainable living conditions on Bhasanchar.
The UN agencies were seeking clarification about the modalities of any such relocation, the living conditions that would be provided and the basic rights and services that the refugees would be able to access if they decided to relocate to Bhasanchar.
The viability of any refugee relocations to Bhasanchar and the possibility of establishing a humanitarian response operation on the island would require thorough assessments including technical assessments of the island and careful planning, the UN said.
The issues of governance and access of the UN and partners to the island would have to be settled.
Any relocation to Bhasanchar ‘must be on a voluntary basis and that refugees should have relevant, accurate and timely information on the project from the government, so that they can make free and informed decisions,’ the UN added.
More than 7,00,000 Rohingyas, mostly women, children and aged people, entered Bangladesh after fleeing unbridled murder, arson and rape during ‘security operations’ by Myanmar military in Rakhine, what the United Nations denounced as ethnic cleansing and genocide, beginning from August 25, 2017.
The ongoing Rohingya influx took the number of undocumented Myanmar nationals and registered refugees in Bangladesh to about 11,16,000, according to estimates by UN agencies and Bangladesh foreign ministry.
UNHCR and several donor countries and organisations including KSA, Qatar, Turkey, UAE and European Commission at a press conference on Monday stressed the need for continuing humanitarian supports for Rohingyas living in Bangladesh camps and expediting the process for repatriation to Myanmar.
Kuwait ambassador in Dhaka Adel Mohammed Hayat said the Rohingya crisis should be resolved at the earliest. Otherwise the burden will have be borne for a long time and nobody will be there [to help], he said at the press conference on partnership mission of the countries in support to the joint response plan for Rohingya humanitarian crisis.
Geneva-based UNOCHA assistant secretary general Rashid M Khalikov said the return of the Rohingya people should be sustainable, safe and dignified.
Brussels-based European Commission director Androulla Kaminara stressed the need for ensuring some sort of livelihood, formal education of the children and skilling of youth community living in Rohingya camps to avoid risk to lose a whole generation of people.
Salah Fahad Al Mazroa of KSA’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre said the Arab kingdom has hosted over 3,00,000 Rohingya people by awarding them certificates ‘as visitor’ and allowing them to work over there.
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