It seems that Bhasan Char has become an attractive place for living for the Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar.
Five Rohingya refugees on Saturday turned up to the river island on their own to unite with their family members who earlier came to the Bhasan Char with the government’s help.
They arrived in Bhasan Char from Teknaf and Ukia camps in Cox's Bazar on a sea-truck from Noakhali's Chairman Ghat on Saturday at around 2pm.
They came to Bhasan Char willingly to reunite with their family members, according to a government message. The RRRC - Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner - helped them meet the family.
The government after taking consent has been arranging the transfer of refugees to Bhasan Char to decongest the Cox’s Bazar camps.
The river island was built to give temporary accommodation to 100,000 Myanmar nationals before their repatriation.
Bangladesh has given shelter to over 1.1 million Rohingya refugees. Most of them fled ‘ethnic cleansing’ in August 2017.
Bangladesh remained engaged with both Myanmar and the international community to send them back. Myanmar did not take back any Rohingya, despite signing deals with Dhaka.
The government invested hundreds of millions of dollars on infrastructural development of the Bhasan Char to make it a comfortable place for living.
All facilities - from health to temporary works and livelihood options - have been created there.
The mighty super-cyclone Amphan last year attested to the durability of the island and quality of the structures built.
A high-level UN team also commended the initiative.
"The Bangladesh government has made an important investment in Bhasan Char by developing the housing facility. If you compare with Cox's Bazar refugee camps, the housing facilities are much better in Bhasan Char," said UN Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees (protection) Rouf Mazou, who visited the island in Noakhali on May 31.