Rohingya may be taken to island
"It's like creating a Manchester in three months on a very small amount of land."
Mohammad Abul Kalam, the Bangladeshi government's commissioner for refugee relief and repatriation
BANGLADESH: Bangladesh has drawn up plans to dump 100,000 Rohingya refugees on a floodprone island far from shore, claiming they are a terrorist threat.
The plan has been condemned by aid workers who say the island is uninhabitable and did not even exist until 11 years ago, and fear it is a device to frighten people into going back to Myanmar.
Already one of the world’s most overcrowded countries, Bangladesh has been struggling to cope with the influx of 655,000 refugees since late August.
Most are crammed in the socalled mega-camp of Kutupalong, now the world’s largest refugee camp.
‘‘It’s like creating a Manchester in three months on a very small amount of land,’’ said Mohammad Abul Kalam, the Bangladeshi government’s commissioner for refugee relief and repatriation. ‘‘The strain on the local population is huge. Given the challenges, [the island is] not bad, though a little far.’’
The UN and aid agencies have been calling for more land to extend the camp as well as to house 16,000 still trapped in noman’s-lands between Myanmar and Bangladesh.
But the Bangladeshi military has argued camps on the mainland are a security risk. ‘‘Camps like this of vulnerable people are easy prey for extremists and may already harbour terrorists,’’ said a senior military officer. ‘‘Putting them on an island will separate them from our population.’’
The government has approved a $US280 million ($400m) plan to relocate 100,000 people to a remote island called Bhashan Char in the Bay of Bengal, about 32 kilometres from the mainland.
Mustafa Kamal, planning minister, said the project would be complete by 2019. Dutch technical experts have been brought in to advise on how to use low-lying land.
But UN officials have called it ‘‘uninhabitable’’, arguing it could disappear in the coming cyclone season and the surrounding sea is a major trafficking route.
‘‘We and other humanitarian agencies are not keen on this idea,’’ said Sultana Begum, Oxfam policy manager. ‘‘[The island] would be hard to get aid to.’’
Last month Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a deal to start returning Rohingya next month, to reduce pressure on camps. Some have likened it to sending victims back to a crime scene.
A new report by Medecins Sans Frontieres estimates at least 6700 Rohingya were slaughtered by Myanmar’s military in the first month alone, including 730 children under the age of five. Earlier this month the UK foreign affairs select committee called it ‘‘ethnic cleansing’’.
An Oxfam study finds that despite the inadequacies of the camps, Rohingya said they would not return without guarantees of security and equal rights and some would rather die than go back.
‘‘We interviewed 200 refugees and the overwhelming feeling from everyone was they are not ready,’’ said Sultana Begum. ‘‘They have only just arrived and are deeply traumatised, having been raped, knifed and seen loved ones killed. I had women saying they would rather commit suicide than go back.’’