1,800 Rohingyas moved to Bhasan Char with 1 day interval

PBC News: A group of nearly 1,800 refugee Rohingyas set sail for Bhasan Char Thursday, as part of the government’s plan to relocate them to the remote Bay of Bengal island from crammed camps in Cox’s Bazar.Five vessels of the Bangladesh Navy carrying 1,759 Rohingyas left the Patenga Naval jetty in Chattogram for the island this morning, said Additional Refugee, Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner Md Shamsuzzaman Nayan, reports UNB.

On Wednesday, some 2,257 Rohingyas were taken to Bhasan Char under the fifth phase of the relocation programme. These refugees had been living in camps at Ukhiya in Cox’s Bazar, said Nayan.
“A total of 4,016 Rohingyas were brought to Chattogram from Cox’s Bazar in the last two days,” he added.
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So far, 9,540 Rohingyas have been relocated to the island in four phases, sources at the Office of the Refugee Relief & Repatriation Commissioner said.

The fourth batch was shifted to Bhasan Char on February 15. The first batch was taken to the island on December 4 last year.

Where is Bhasan Char?

Located 34 kilometres off the mainland, the island 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.

The island has all the modern amenities and a police station was also set up there recently.

Bangladesh spent millions of dollars to develop Bhasan Char and plans to relocate 100,000 Rohingyas there in phases in the face of growing concerns over the extreme congestion in Cox’s Bazar camps and to avert any untoward incident.