Bangladesh starts relocation of Rohingyas !

Bangladesh has started the process of relocation of the Rohingya refugees. As a part of relocation, first batch of Rohingyas left Ukhiya camp in Cox’s Bazar for Bhasan Char island on Thursday.

Twenty buses carrying the Rohingyas left Ukhia for Bhasan Char island under Hatia upazila in Noakhali.

Rapid Action Battalion-7 and 15 members are working to ensure their security.

Some Rohingya families, willing to go to the Bhasan Char, were taken to Ukhiya’s Kutupalong transit point on Wednesday afternoon while some left their respective camps this morning, said Teknaf Shamlapur Rohingya camp in-charge (CIC) Nowsher Ibn Halim.

The buses left the temporary transit point at Ukhia College at about 11:30am for Chattogram. On Friday, the Rohingyas will be taken to Bhasan Char under the supervision of Bangladesh Navy.

Meanwhile, human rights groups urged Bangladesh on Thursday to halt relocations of Rohingya refugees.

“The authorities should immediately halt relocation of more refugees to Bhashan Char,” Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner Saad Hammadi said in a statement.

US-based advocacy group Refugees International said the plan was “short-sighted and inhumane” while the Fortify Rights Group said the relocations may be “coerced and involuntary” and should cease immediately.

Mohammed Shamsud Douza, the deputy Bangladesh government official in charge of refugees, said the relocation was voluntary.

“They are going there happily. No one is forced. The government has taken all measures to deal with disasters, including their comfortable living and livelihood.”

A senior foreign ministry official said the refugees were being moved because there was little prospect of repatriating them to Myanmar.

Bangladeshi officials said the first 400 of 2,500 refugees would leave on Thursday evening, depending on the tide. The journey takes several hours. More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar in 2017 following a military-led crackdown that the United Nations has said was executed with genocidal intent. Myanmar denies genocide and says its forces were targeting Rohingya militants who attacked police posts.

A senior Bangladeshi official has said housing was built for 100,000 people on the island and authorities want to relocate them during the November to April dry season when the sea is calm. The United Nations said in a statement it had been given “limited information” about the relocations and was not involved in preparations.

Omar Faruq, one Rohingya leader who had been on a government trip, said the island was “truly beautiful”, with better facilities than in the refugee camps and that he would be ready to go, but that most people did not want to go there.

“We don’t want to end up living an isolated prison-like life,” said Nurul Amin, one Rohingya refugee who was not on the list. More than 300 refugees were brought to the island earlier this year after several months at sea in an attempt to flee Bangladesh. Rights groups say they are being held against their will and have complained of human rights violations.