DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) – Authorities in Bangladesh on Monday sent a fourth group of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to a newly developed island in the Bay of Bengal, despite calls from human rights groups to halt the process.
The approximately 2,000 Rohingya who lived in the vast refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar were sent to Bhasan Char, an island specifically developed to accommodate 100,000 of the 1 million Rohingya who fled neighboring Myanmar, M. Mozammel Haque, a commander of the Bangladesh navy, told reporters.
With Monday’s group, more than 7,000 refugees have moved to the island since the process began in December.
The government said the arrangement was good for the refugees and the island was designed to provide better living conditions. While human rights groups have criticized the moves and some are being forced to go against their will, the government has insisted that refugees moving to the island do so voluntarily.
More than 1 million Rohingya have fled their waves of violent persecution in their native Myanmar and are currently living in overcrowded, bad refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar district.
Bangladesh said it was ultimately Myanmar to take back the refugees and called on the international community to put pressure on Myanmar’s government to ensure their safe return.
The latest move follows a February 1 coup in Myanmar that puts the military back in control. The refugees living in Bangladeshi camps say they are now even more afraid to return to Myanmar.
The island only emerged 20 years ago and was not previously inhabited. It was regularly flooded by rain showers, but the flood defenses, houses, hospitals and mosques are being built by the Bangladesh navy for more than $ 112 million.
International aid agencies have opposed the resettlement since it was first proposed in 2015, fearing a major storm could overwhelm the island and endanger thousands of lives. But the government said the new development schemes on the island made the island safe to live on.