Drop plan to relocate Rohingyas to Bhashan Char: Amnesty International

Bangladesh Government was in move to dislocate Rohingya Refugees from Ukhiya to Bashan char. Hence ,with the Appeal of some representative , Amnesty International on Friday urged Bangladesh to abandon its plans to relocate over 100 Rohingya families Bhashan Char, an island in the Bay of Bengal.

The international rights watchdog in a release, posted on its website, said that the island was remote and had not yet been declared safe for human habitation by the United Nations.

Amnesty, referring to local media reports, said that the government had completed preparations to relocate 300 to 400 Rohingyas to the silt island this month on a ‘voluntary basis’.

Rohingyas interviewed by Amnesty International this month said that government officials in charges of Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar had coerced them into registering for relocation, the release said and added that over 300 Rohingya refugees were living in Bhashan Char in poor conditions.

‘Aside from the fact that Bhashan Char has not been deemed safe for human habitation by the UN, there are serious questions over this relocation procedure. Many of the Rohingya we have spoken to have not given full and informed consent to being moved to an island they know nothing about,’ said Omar Waraich, head of the watchdog’s South Asia unit.

He also said that any decisions to the relocation of Rohingyas must be transparent and involve the full participation of the Rohingya people.

‘In the meantime, plans for any further relocations must be abandoned,’ he said adding that the Bangladeshi authorities must let the UN carry out an assessment of Bhashan Char and immediately return the hundreds of Rohingyas currently on the island to their families in Cox’s Bazar.

‘Amnesty International is also calling for unfettered access to Bhashan Char for rights and humanitarian organizations to carry out independent assessments,’ the release said.