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Rohingyas better off at Bhasan Char


Published : 19 Mar 2021 09:58 PM | Updated : 20 Mar 2021 01:01 AM

The Rohingyas now living in Bhasan Char have told the UN delegation that they are better off here than in the Cox’s Bazar camps. 

The UN envoys, who were on a visit to Bhasan Char, met frequently with the Rohingyas on Thursday and Friday.

The 18-member delegation's three-day visit to Bhasan Char, is beginning to alleviate  the existing discomfort on relocation between the Rohingya refugees who have taken refuge in Bangladesh from neighboring Myanmar, the Bangladesh government and the international community.

On Thursday and Friday, UN representatives held several meetings with the Rohingyas. Representatives of the global organization want to know the opinion of the Rohingyas on the basis of age.

UN representatives spoke to children and adolescents in different categories based on age and wanted to know about their daily routine, especially how they spent their time in the new settlement.

Currently around 14,032 Rohingyas, who have relocated from Cox’s Bazar camps since December 2020 are living in Bhasan Char Island settlement where the Bangladesh government has built a shelter project at the cost of TK 3000 crore for 100 thousand Rohingyas.

Mohammad Monir, a Rohingya community leader in Bhasan Char told this reporter over telephone that during the meetings, Rohingyas informed the UN that they are living in a much better condition in Bhasan Char compared to that in the Cox’s Bazar camps where they had lived.

“The UN men asked us why we came here to Bhasan Char,” said Monir who was relocated in the first batch in December, “We told them (UN) that the government had informed us about the facilities at Bhasan Char. We were in extreme distress in a grumpy and miserable environment in Cox’s Bazar, instead we are much better here,” Monir added.  

“The UN team assured us they will do all the good for the Rohingyas as possible,” said Monir  who was in the discussion with the UN team at a warehouse in Bhasan Char on Thursday and Friday.

 At the meeting, an equal number of Rohingya men and women were present.

On Wednesday afternoon, the delegation reached Bhasan Char by sea from Chattogram.  On the first day of the visit, they met with Bangladeshi officials there and were briefed on the details of the Bhasan Char shelter project. On Thursday and Friday, they toured the entire project area and talked to the Rohingyas.

 Under the supervision of The Bangladesh Navy, the shelter project has been set up there with the assistance of British consultant firm HR Wallingford and Chinese firm Sinohydro for housing one lakh Rohingyas.  Some 120 cyclone shelters, one in each cluster including health and education facilities were constructed under this shelter project. 

The entire settlement has been protected from floods and tidal disasters with a 13 km- long embankment with a modern flood control system.

Currently, around one million Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) are living in Cox’s Bazar, southern- eastern district of Bangladesh, of which 700 thousand came from Rakhine State after a brutal crackdown in 2017.

Since December 2020, Bangladesh has started relocating one hundred thousand Rohingyas to Bhasan Char Island settlement under Noakhali district, and till this month, a total of 14032 Rohingyas have been relocated there. 

Although the UN is responsible for supplying the basic humanitarian needs of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, the global organization has been silent on the issue of Rohingyas relocation from Cox's Bazar to Bhasan Char, the island of Noakhali district which emerged around 20 years ago.