Bangladesh has begun relocating the second group of Rohingya refugees from the oppressed camps in Cox’s Bazar to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal, in defiance of the safety and security of international rights lawyers.
Groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have urged the Bangladeshi government to halt the relocation of Rohingya to Bhasan Char, which is hours by boat from the mainland, sensitive, vulnerable to frequent cyclones and could be completely submerged during a high tide.
There are also concerns that the Rohingya, who have already been expelled from Myanmar due to ethnic cleansing, have been bribed to move to the island, or that they have faced intimidation tactics to persuade them to do so.
International law firms suspect refugees have been listed without their permission and have called on Bangladesh to allow an independent inspection of the island.
The first group of 1,642 Rohingya refugees was relocated to the island earlier in December.
Abdullah Al Mamun Chowdhury, a senior police officer and director of the Bhasan Char project, told The Daily Star newspaper in Bangladesh that about 700 to 1,000 Rohingya refugees would be sent to the island on December 28 and 29 and that Bhasan Char was saved on it. receive the new arrivals.
Saad Hammadi, Amnesty International’s campaigner in South Asia, said concerns about the relocation to Bhashan Char stemmed from a “lack of understanding of the guarantees of human rights there, including access to health care and the right to free movement between the island and Cox’s Bazar “.
Earlier this month, HRW said in a statement that there was limited information on the actual conditions on the island, “and there are some allegations that the authorities could provide misleading information and incentives to move there”.
However, the Bangladeshi government has denied that there are any reasons to worry. Mostafizur Rahman, Bangladesh’s permanent representative and ambassador to the UN office in Geneva, said Rohingyas had been displaced voluntarily and that the government had taken measures to improve their quality of life, livelihood and security.
Mohammed Shamsud Douza, the deputy government official in charge of refugees, said a 12 km long embankment had been built to protect the island from floods, as well as housing for 100,000 people. Resettlement was voluntary, he said.
“No one is being forced to go there,” he said, adding that people can lead a better life there with greater access to health care and education.