Rohingya moved to island voluntarily, says Bangladesh
1,642 refugees land in Bhashan Char; foreign ministry says ‘extreme congestion’ and ‘deteriorating security situation’ in camps forced relocation
Authorities in Bangladesh on Friday sent the first group of more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees to an isolated island despite calls by human rights groups for a halt to the process.
The 1,642 refugees boarded seven Bangladeshi naval vessels in the port of Chitagong for the trip to Bhashan Char, according to an official who could not be named in accordance with local practice.
Two refugees on board said by phone they had travelled willingly and were happy to be out of the camps.
“I hope we will find some comfort and peace here,” one 46-year-old man said ater reaching the island. “There is so much suffering and conflict in the camps.” In a statement on Friday, the foreign ministry said it planned to relocate 100,000 Rohingya because of “extreme congestion” and the “deteriorating security situation” in the camps.
It said the island has been equipped with “proper infrastructure and enhanced facilities” and it hoped the United Nations (UN) would soon be working there, alongside 22 aid groups who had agreed to help out.
All refugees went voluntarily, the ministry added.
The director of infrastructure development on Bhashan Char, Commodore Abdullah Al Mamun Chowdhury, told reporters on the island that the international community has nothing to worry about regarding the safety of the refugees.
He said he expects that the UN and others would be convinced about the overall arrangements ater visiting the island.
Asked when that would be, he answered that the government is working on it.
On Thursday, 11 passenger buses carrying the refugees let Cox’s Bazar on the way to the island. They camped overnight in school buildings in the southeastern city of Chitagong.
Ater about a three-hour trip they arrived at the island, which was once regularly submerged by monsoon rains but now has flood protection embankments, houses, hospitals and mosques built at a cost of more than $112 million by the Bangladesh navy.
Located 34km from the mainland, the island surfaced only 20 years ago and was never inhabited.
Saleh Noman, a Bangladeshi journalist who travelled with the refugees, said by phone from the island that the refugees were given rice, eggs and chickens for lunch ater their body temperatures were measured by health workers as a coronavirus precaution.
Before they boarded the ships they were also given face masks to protect against COVID-19.
The island’s facilities are built to accommodate 100,000 people.
The UN has said it has only received “limited information” about the move.
At a briefing in Geneva, the UN’S refugee agency called on Bangladesh to uphold its commitment that the move be voluntary, saying it had heard reports refugees felt under pressure.
The UNHCR was ready to check conditions on the island to ensure it was a “safe and sustainable place for refugees to live,” if allowed by the government, spokesman Babar Baloch said.
“Not one refugee should be moved until all human rights and humanitarian concerns have been resolved and genuine informed consent is assured,” said Ismail Wolff, director of the Fortify Rights group.
Human Rights Watch said it had interviewed 12 families whose names were on the lists, but had not volunteered to go.
Two aid workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said refugees had come under pressure from government officials who used threats and offers of cash and other enticements to persuade them to go to the island.
On the mainland on Thursday, before the departure, two Rohingya said their names had appeared on lists compiled by governmentappointed local leaders without their consent.
“They have taken us here forcefully,” a 31-yearold man said tearfully by phone as he boarded a bus that he said was taking him from the camps near Cox’s Bazar to Chitagong.
“Three days ago, when I heard that my family is on the list, I ran away from the block, but yesterday I was caught and taken here,” he said.
An 18-year-old woman said her husband had put their names on the list thinking it was for food rations. He fled when they were told to go to Bhasan Char, she said, adding that she was also hiding in the camp.