By Diplomatic Correspondent
May.03, 2020
Bangladesh finally could send few Rohingyas to Bhasan Char.
The government developed the river island at the estuary of Meghna River for human habitation with all the facilities, but due to international pressure could not relocate Rohingyas from Cox’s Bazar to Bhasan Char.
In a new move, the government sent few Rohingyas who entered Bangladesh in the last couple of days by using small boats to Bhasan Char.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Sunday confirmed this to Bangladesh Post and said they had taken this move also to keep the camps in Cox’s Bazar coronavirus free.
“We had no idea how they entered Bangladesh. Villagers spotted them and informed our coast guard who later sent them to Bhasar Char,” he told Bangladesh Post.
“Bhasan Char has all the facilities for Rohingyas to live there,” he said, adding that they will be quarantined there.
The foreign minister could not give exact number of how many were sent to Bhasan Char.
But he said the number would not be less than 70.
He said the coast guard also arrested a middle-man who lured them in Bangladesh.
“He (middle-man) told our law enforcement agency that an international NGO paid him for bringing the Rohingyas in Bangladesh after they failed to push them in Malaysia”.
“Who knows it can be a ploy to spread the virus in the crowded camps in Cox’s Bazar,” the foreign minister said, “once spread, many Rohingyas will die and then it’ll be a bad reputation for us”.
Bhasan Char is located around 39km away from Noakhali in an estuary of the Meghna River.
The island which emerged in the Bay of Bengal in 2006 has been developed as an eco-friendly human habitat to relocate nearly 1 lakh Rohingyas to relieve the overcrowded mainland camps in Cox's Bazar where over 1.1 million took shelter fleeing persecutions in Myanmar.
The island once covered in a shroud of grass and mangrove trees took a new look with buildings painted pink.
But the government could not relocate Rohingyas despite assurance of safety and security.
The international community and the UN were also reluctant to the relocation move and asked the government to take Rohingyas consent. But Rohingyas did not take interest.
Earlier, European Union urged the governments in the region to follow Bangladesh example and conduct a search and rescue operation and to find a solution for the safe disembarkation of Rohingyas drifting at Bay of Bengal.
“Bangladesh granted safe landing and assistance to 400 Rohingya on one of the boats on 16 April 2020, showing continued generosity and humanity. We hope that countries in the region will follow this example,” it said in a statement on Saturday.
The High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell and Commissioner Janez Lenarčič issued the statement from Brussels on the situation of the Rohingya people in the waters of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.
International media reports suggested that two boats carrying an estimated 500 Rohingya women, men and children – were floating on the sea after their failed attempt to land in Malaysia, where they were denied entry.
In the statement, the top EU officials urge the governments in the region to conduct “a search and rescue operation and to find a solution for their safe disembarkation”.
Bangladesh is currently hosting over 1.1 million forcefully displaced Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar district and most of them arrived there since August 25, 2017 after a military crackdown by Myanmar.
The UN called this as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. Myanmar is facing trial in the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Foreign Minister Dr Momen on April 27 called for a shared responsibility of neighbourhood countries and developed nations in sheltering Rohingyas when UK’s state minister for its foreign and commonwealth office Lord Ahmed phoned him.
The foreign minister also asked the UK to send its Royal Ship patrolling at the Gulf to rescue them and give shelter since they are not on the Bangladesh coastlines.
He also regretted that different countries including the EU kept on investing in Myanmar and the human rights bodies are not vocal over the issues.
During the phone conversation with Dutch foreign trade and development cooperation Sigrid Kaag on Wednesday, Dr Momen also explained that the Rohingyas who are on two boats in the sea are not in or even near the Bangladesh maritime border.
He pointed out that according to the law of the seas, other countries in the region have responsibilities to save the Rohingyas.
Kaag agreed that if Bangladesh continues to rescue boat loads of Rohingyas again and again then it may work as a decoy for Myanmar and encourage them to push more Rohingyas to the deep sea, the foreign ministry later said in a statement.
Several international rights groups and aid agencies including UNHCR earlier appeared critical on the role countries in the region in rescuing the floating people who were at sea for weeks without adequate food and water
Amnesty International last week called upon Southeast Asian governments to launch immediate search and rescue operations for Rohingyas languishing at sea.
“Bangladesh cannot be left to address this situation alone. The fact that it is upholding its own obligations is not an excuse for others to abandon theirs,” the global right watchdog’s South Asia director Biraj Patnaik said in a statement.
New York-based Human Rights Watch in a statement also reminded that all countries, including Malaysia and Thailand, have the responsibility to give Rohingyas shelter.
The EU, however, urged all armed forces in Myanmar to urgently implement an unconditional ceasefire and recommit to an all-inclusive peace process.
“This would help addressing the root causes of the plight of the Rohingya,” it said.
“We continue to advocate for the safe, sustainable, dignified, and voluntary return of the Rohingya refugees to their places of origin and for ensuring full accountability for the crimes committed against them.”
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