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Rohingya relocation to Bhasanchar likely in November


Published : 30 Oct 2019 09:40 PM | Updated : 05 Sep 2020 05:30 AM

Relocation of the Rohingya refugees to Bhasanachar of Noakhali is set to begin in November this year as all the required infrastructural construction has been completed there.

The government has set some criteria for shifting the Rohingyas to Bhasanchar. For relocation, priorities are being given to the newly arrived Rohingyas and families with small children and new born babies. Those who will be relocated to Bhasanchar are being registered anew.

When asked project director Commodore Abdullah Al Mamun Chowdhury told journalists that a favorable environment for relocation of the Rohingya refugees has been developed in Bhasanchar. Some 1,440 houses have been constructed there as clustered settlement or Guchchhagram.

Construction of cyclone shelter centers is also almost done. Construction of 40 km road for internal use and 12 km security embankment is also completed. Construction of four warehouses, 1 megawatt solar hybrid plant, a 1 megawatt and two 500KW diesel generators has also been completed, he added.

He further said construction of four Landing Craft Utility (LCU) was 90 percent completed. Five pontoons have been deployed for sailing. Housing facilities have been set up on some 1,700 acres of land in Bhasnachar to relocate the Rohingyas. The total amount of land in this terrain is 17000 acres. 

Bhasanachar Rohingya relocation houses have been built in the form of cyclone shelters. Each room measures 12 by 12 feet, one room for one family. There are separate latrines for men and women. Several families will use a latrine.

There will be 20 offices in the area including security offices. A police station will be set up there. A fire service unit, four community clinics and two 20-bed hospitals are under construction there. Under the livelihood development project, various trainings will be arranged for the refugees. Bhasanchar has ponds and reservoirs and sufficient cultivable vacant land which will be utilized in fisheries, livestock farming and vegetable farming. 

The total number of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, registered and unregistered, is around 1.5 million. 

Tk 2,312 crore 15 lakh 31 thousand was allocated from the government's funds for the project. Of this, 2,265 crore 90 lakh 44 thousand has been spent. The remaining 46 crore 24 lakh 31 thousand has been kept as 'emergency fund'. The Navy has implemented this project under the Prime Minister's Office’s directive.