Relocating Rohingyas: Govt to send 2,000 others to Bhasan Char

The government has resumed the process for relocating Rohingyas from Cox's Bazar to Bhasan Char, said officials.   

Around 2,000 more Rohingyas are likely to be relocated to the island in Noakhali's Hatiya in the first phase by tomorrow, they said, adding that the Rohingyas have already been taken to the Ukhiya College ground.

The government is planning to shift around 80,000 Rohingyas to the island by the end of next March, Md Mohsin, secretary of the disaster management and relief ministry, told The Daily Star yesterday.

Mohammed Moazzam Hossain, additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, said Rohingyas will be taken to Chattogram by bus today and they will stay there overnight. "On Thursday [tomorrow], Rohingyas will reach Bhasan Char by ship."

Around 18,000 Rohingyas have already been moved to the island. The first batch of 1,642 refugees was taken there on December 4 last year.

Bangladesh Navy has implemented a Tk 3,100-crore project titled the Ashrayan-3 Project on Bhasan Char for the refugees.

In Cox's Bazar refugee camps, a family of six-eight people live together within a space of 400-square foot. At Bhasan Char, the buildings have electricity, solar panels, biogas plants, and mobile networks.

The houses have been built four feet above the ground with concrete blocks. Each building will house 16 families of four in its 16 rooms, providing more than the UN stipulated 37 square feet space for each person, said project officials.

Although the United Nations was not engaged in the process of Bhasan Char project, it signed an agreement with Bangladesh last month to provide humanitarian support.

The UN's engagement started nearly a year after Bangladesh started moving the Rohingyas to the island. After the signing of the agreement, the UN said it would allow close cooperation between the government and the UN to provide services for refugees on the island.