The government has started work on a plan to provide technical education and employment at farms to the Rohingyas in Bhasan Char.
Within a month after the Rohingya relocation to Bhasan Char, to materialize the government plan, two delegations from the Ministry of Education and Agriculture visited Bhasan Char. The delegations will submit their report soon, officials said.
On December 4, the first group of 1642 Rohingyas started living in Bhasan Char. Then, representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Education visited Bhasan Char. On the 29th of the month, the second group of 1604 people went to Bhasan Char.
At present, more than 3500 Rohingyas are living in Bhasan Char, where the Bangladesh government has ensured accommodation for about one lakh Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals, FDMN Rohingyas.
Commodore Abdullah Al Mamun Chowdhury, Project Director Ashrayan -3 project Bhasan Char said the government was already considering how to deal with the Rohingyas who came here, and delegations from the two ministries had already visited the areas soon after the first group of Rohingyas arrived in Bhasan Char.
Noting that there is enormous potential for agricultural cultivation and cattle rearing in Bhasan Char, he said Rohingyas have also expressed interest in getting involved in the work. Besides, the concerned ministry is going to take immediate initiative on how to engage Rohingya women in such activities.”
Bhasan Char is an Island of Noakhali district which emerged around 20 years ago. A shelter project has been set up there at a cost of around Tk 3,000 crore for housing one lakh Rohingyas. Some 120 cyclone shelters were constructed under this shelter project. There is enough land for grazing thousands of cattle heads as the area and adjoining Islands are considered to be one of the largest cattle shelters in the country.
The length of Bhasan Char is about 7.5 km in the north-south and 6.5 km in the east-west. At present, the land area of the island is about 30,000 acres, of which around 13,000 acres are now usable. Bhasan Char is basically divided into two parts by a canal. Its small southern area is about 2,000 acres.
Mohmmad Kurshed Alam Khan, Deputy Commissioner of Noakhali said, the team from two ministries that physically visited the areas to explore the potentialities of Rohingyas, will submit their report soon.”
Besides, conventional education for Rohingya refugees as well as technical education is being considered, he said adding, the government would make a decision after receiving the delegations’ report.
When I visited the Rohingyas in Bhasan Char last week, I found many of them trying to do something. Some Rohingyas are opening shops where they prepare a variety of food items and sell them to women and children.
Some Rohingyas are making various types of furniture from the leftover wood of the Shelter project. Some Rohingya women were sewing.
Dilara Begum, a mother of three, who brought a sewing machine on December 4 when she came from Cox’s Bazar, said, “ I have been tailoring the traditional Burmese clothes for our community at a nominal price.”
“The Bhasan Char shelter has more facilities than we expected, she added, ”The steps of the government are playing a good role in reducing the burden of our miserable life.”
Bhasan Char, a different kind of refuge for refugees, is much more comfortable here than the crowded camp in Cox's Bazar. Since the relocation, a music club, and a sports club have been set up here to relocate the Rohingyas in the shortest possible time.
Commodore Abdullah Al Mamun Chowdhury said, parks and other arrangements will be made for the entertainment of children.