Exclusive: U.N. draws up plans to 'facilitate' Rohingya relocation to island

REUTERS

Poppy McPherson,
March 23, 2019
 

YANGON (Reuters) - The United Nations is making plans to help Bangladesh relocate thousands of Rohingya refugees to a remote island off its coast, documents seen by Reuters show, a move opposed by many refugees and that some human rights experts fear could spark a new crisis.

FILE PHOTO: Rohingya refugees gather at a market inside a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain/File Photo

Bangladesh says transporting refugees to Bhasan Char – a Bay of Bengal island hours by boat from the mainland – will ease chronic overcrowding in its camps at Cox’s Bazar, which are home to more than 1 million Rohingya, members of a Muslim minority who have fled neighboring Myanmar.

UNHCR welcomes Bangladesh’s plan to relocate Rohingyas to Bahasan Char island

bdnews24.com

Senior Correspondent, bdnews24.com
Published: 21 Mar 2019 

 

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has lauded the Bangladesh government for its proactive steps to create an alternative settlement plan for Rohingyas.

Visiting Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Volker Turk at a press briefing, however, said any relocation must be voluntary in nature and ensure livelihood.

Rohingya relocation to Bhashan Char ‘not soon’

theindepedent  

21 March, 2019 08:01:59 AM 

Harun Ur Rashid, Dhaka

The government is yet to complete the preparations for relocating one million Rohingyas to Bhashan Char and reach any consensus with the international community in this regard. This has jeopardiesed the entire relocation scheme.

Rohingya divided over relocation as awareness campaign begins

ARAB NEWS
BY SHEHAB SUMON
March 18, 2019

Rohingya refugee children play on a swing at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, March 7, 2019. (REUTERS)

Camp authorities have been meeting Rohingya community leaders and imams so they can motivate other refugees to move

 

DHAKA: Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are divided over an island that will become their new home, as government officials try to persuade them to relocate voluntarily.

Rohingya relocation plan to ‘unsafe’ island

THE TIMES

March 14 2019, The Times

Dhaka Bangladesh is to move Rohingya Muslims from crowded refugee camps to a remote island vulnerable to extreme weather next month. Shelters and flood defences have been built on Bhashan Char, which rose from the Bay of Bengal in 2006, for the 100,000 people expected to be moved there. Plans to relocate the nearly one million Rohingya who fled persecution in Burma have stalled several times. A UN expert has warned that the island may not withstand tidal surges caused by tornados, which have killed hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshis. (AFP) 

Link :https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rohingya-relocation-plan-to-unsafe-island-3k78pqkzk

US welcomes govt promises of Rohingyas' voluntary relocation to Bhashan Char

DhakaTribune
 Published at March 13th, 2019

 Before Bangladesh, no other country came to their aid MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

The government plans to relocate up to 100,000 Rohingyas to Bhashan Char, as early as mid-April

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller has welcomed the government’s assurances that any relocation of Rohingyas to Bhashan Char Island, will be completely voluntary, based on informed consent.

US welcomes govt assurances of Rohingyas' voluntary relocation to Bhashan Char

UNB

Publish Date - March 13, 2019

Earl R Miller traveled to Cox’s Bazar to monitor US assistance to Rohingya and local communities in preparation for the annual monsoon and cyclone seasons. The US works hand-in-hand with the local community to build multi-purpose cyclone shelters and train emergency first responders. Photo: Twitter

Dhaka, Mar 13 (UNB) - US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller has welcomed the government’s assurances that any relocation of Rohingyas to Bhashan Char island will be fully voluntary based on informed consent.

UN fears ‘new crisis’ over Bangladesh’s ‘ill-planned relocation’ of Rohingya refugee to remote island

By divyasingh
- March 12, 2019

A United Nations human rights investigator on Myanmar has on Monday voiced deep concern over a Bangladesh’ plan to relocating around 23,000 Rohingya refugees to a remote island in April, stating that it may not be suitable and could also create a potential “new crisis”.

UN Warns Bangladesh Government Against Relocation Of Rohingya Refugees

LATEST LY
  Marisha Dolly Singh Mar 12, 2019 

Toronto, March 12: Despite strenuous efforts by the Bangladesh government, Myanmar has made no efforts to create conditions that make the repatriation of Rohingya refugees possible. As a result, the Sheikh Hasina government is making provisions to relocate more than 23,000 refugees of the over 7.5 lakh Rohingyas in Bangladesh to an uninhabited island.

UN warns Bangladesh of 'new crisis' over Rohingya relocation plan

Aljazeera

 by Joshua Carroll

2019 Mar 11

Island chosen to house 23,000 refugees may not be 'truly habitable', UN's special rapporteur on Myanmar warns.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya are confined to overcrowded camps in Bangladesh [File: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters]

Rohingya relocation to Bhasan Char to start by mid-April

DhakaTribune
Tribune Desk ,Published at 05:53 pm March 3rd, 2019

This photo, collected from project official Atikul Islam’s Facebook page, shows the housing project under construction at Bhasan char

The project, which is scheduled to be completed this year, is being implemented by the Bangladesh Navy

The process to relocate more than 100,000 Rohingya refugees to the Bhasan Char island from camps in Cox’s Bazar will kick off by mid-April, confirms a government minister.