In the second phase within the month, a group of 1772 Rohingya refugees is being taken from Cox's Bazar camps to Bhashan Char island settlement in Noakhali.
In this phase, more Rohingya are being relocated than previously planned as many Rohingyas are interested to move to the new settlement from squeezed camps in Cox's Bazar, officials said.
Under tight security and heavy escort of law enforcers, 30 buses with Rohingyas arrived in Chattogram from the transit camp of Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar on Monday evening. Today morning, they will start for Bhasan Char from Boat Club jetty in the Patenga area.
Under supervision of the Bangladesh Navy, a settlement with modern facilities for 100 thousand Rohingyas has been built in Bhasan Char at a cost of TK 3000 crore with the support of British consultant firm Wallingford and Chinese’s firm Sino- Hydro.
Commodore Abdullah Al Mamun Chowdhury, Project Director of Bhashan Char Shelter Project told Bangladesh Post, “We had a plan to relocate 700-1000 Rohingyas on Thursday, but more Rohingyas reached the transit station willingly and offered themselves for relocation, so the number of Rohingyas is increasing.”
“The actual figure of Rohingyas on the way to Bhasan Char will be confirmed after they arrive at the boarding location of the Boat Club,” he added.
Commodore Mamun also said all kinds of facilities have been ensured for the Rohingyas in Bhashan Char with adequate security.
Bangladesh has had to accommodate nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar—one of the poorest and most densely populated places on the planet—after they were uprooted by successive waves of violence across the border in Myanmar. In 2017, more than 730,000 members of the Muslim minority group fled a military-led campaign of rape, murder, and arson that is currently the subject of a genocide trial.
Concrete housing blocks, solar panels, roads, and a mobile phone network were reportedly installed on Bhashan Char, the area is also secure with a 13KM long flood and tide control embankment.
The first batch of 1642 Rohingya refugees was shifted to the new shelter in Bhassan Char earlier this month creating a new impression on the Forcibly Displaced Rohingya Nationals, FDMN.
The Rohingyas who came for the first time expressed satisfaction over the facilities of the island and advised their acquaintances to move there. As a result, many Rohingya became interested in moving to the new island settlement.
However, international aid agencies have not started work there, raising questions about the safety of the Bhasan Char shelter project.