Rohingya refugees taken to remote Bangladesh island

(25 Nov 2021) Bangladesh on Thursday began relocating hundreds of Rohingya refugees to an island in the Bay of Bengal, despite concerns from rights groups over the conditions on the vulnerable low-lying island and that no refugees should be sent forcibly.
Bangladesh has been sheltering 1.1 million Rohingya from Myanmar in crowded camps near its coast, including more than 700,000 who fled a brutal military crackdown on the Muslim ethnic group in August 2017 following an attack by insurgents.
A UN-sponsored investigation in 2018 recommended the prosecution of Myanmar’s top military commanders on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for the violence against the Rohingya.
A senior Bangladeshi official overseeing the relocation said that a navy ship would take 379 refugees from Chattogram city to the Bhashan Char Island which lies off the country’s southeastern coast.
The government began sending Rohingya refugees to the island eleven months ago, and says it can now accommodate up to 100,000 refugees.
Douza said a total of 1,500 refugees would be transported to the island in phases over the next few weeks. Previously, about 19,000 refugees were relocated to the island from Cox’s Bazar where more than 1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar live in crowded camps.
It was not clear when the next batch will travel to the island.
The government says the relocation is a temporary arrangement and eventually they will have to return to their home country in Myanmar, although Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also said she will not force the refugees to return.
In October, the U.N. signed an agreement with Bangladesh’s government to facilitate sending refugees to the island.
The U.N. and other groups had earlier criticized the relocation, saying the island, which is regularly submerged by monsoon rains, was not fit for habitation. The government has spent more than US$112 million on development, adding sea walls, hospitals, schools and mosques.
The U.N. agreement allows for close cooperation between the international body and the government to supply services and aid for the island’s residents.
Rights groups, however, have continued to express concerns over the plans. This week, the International Federation of Red Cross urged in a statement that urgent action was needed to protect the refugees from cyclones and the COVID-19 pandemic on Bhashan Char Island.
It said Bangladesh’s Red Crescent has been working directly with the refugees so that lifesaving measures are in place ahead of the next big cyclone, as big storms regularly threaten the Bay of Bengal from September until December.
It said vaccinations have been underway for people aged over 55 on the island, and more doses are due for the remaining adults.
The Rohingya are not recognized as citizens in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, rendering them stateless, and face other forms of state-sanctioned discrimination and violence.

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