1,000 more Rohingyas relocated to Bhashan Char

Dhaka Tribune

Anwar Hussain, Chittagong
February 16th, 2021

File photo of Rohingyas board one of the ships at Chittagong Boat Club to travel to Bhashan Char on Friday, December 4, 2020 Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan/Dhaka Tribune

On Monday, some 2,010 Rohingyas reached the island in the fourth phase of relocation process 

Some 1,009 more Rohingyas have arrived at Bhashan Char in Noakhali from the camps in Cox's Bazar on the second day in the fourth phase of the relocation process.

The persecuted Myanmar citizens reached the island in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday afternoon, after travelling from Chittagong.

Earlier, three ships of the Bangladesh Navy carrying the Rohingyas left the Chittagong Boat Club jetty in the port city's Patenga area around 11:15am, Additional Commissioner for Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission (RRRC) Mohammad Shamsud Douza told the Dhaka Tribune.

The Rohingyas, who have volunteered to be relocated to Bhashan Char developed by the Bangladesh Navy at a cost of Tk3,100 crore, were brought to Chittagong from Cox's Bazar on Monday.

At night, they stayed at a transit camp set up on the premises of BAF Shaheen College in Patenga.

On Tuesday morning, they were brought to the Chittagong Boat Club by buses.

On Monday, some 2,010 more Rohingyas reached the island in the fourth phase of the relocation process.

In the third phase, more than 3,200 Rohingyas were relocated to Bhashan Char in two days - January 29 and 30.

In the first two phases – December 4 and 29 – some 3,446 Rohingyas were relocated to the Noakhali island.

Also Read - 2,000 more Rohingyas reach Bhashan Char

Buoyed by the success of the first, second, and third relocation, the government is continuing its effort to relocate some 100,000 Rohingyas to Bhashan Char in phases to provide them with a better living place. 

The government has dismissed safety concerns over the island, citing the building of flood defences and other infrastructures. 

It also says overcrowding in refugee camps fuels crime.

Located 34km from the mainland, the island under Hatiya upazila of Noakhali surfaced 20 years ago and was never inhabited.

Contractors say its infrastructure is like a modern township, with multi-family concrete homes, schools, playgrounds, and roads. It also has solar power facilities, a water supply system, and cyclone shelters.

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar district. 

Most of them entered Bangladesh since August 25, 2017, amid a military crackdown on Rohingyas in the Rakhine state of Myanmar, which the UN called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and other rights groups dubbed as "genocide."

Bangladesh has called on Myanmar to move forward the stalled process of voluntary repatriation of Rohingya refugees, as international pressure mounts on the military leaders following a coup, which reduces the refugees' hopes of returning home.

Link : Here