The authorities concerned are prepared to start the much-talked-about relocation of Rohingyas to Bhasan Char Island from today (Friday).
According to the plan, nearly 4,000 Rohingyas will be primarily relocated to the 13,000-acre island, where 1,440 tin-shed buildings were built to house the refugees.
Bangladesh Navy implemented the Bhasan Char project for providing safe accommodation to the 100,000 Rohingyas, out of over one million refugees. They have fled their homes in Myanmar in the face of brutal persecution by the Myanmar army since August 2017. Meanwhile, hundreds of Rohingyas were shifted to Chittagong from Cox's Bazar camps on Thursday. They are scheduled to be taken to Bhasan Char by Navy boats on Friday, sources said.
"These refugees are going to Bhasan Char voluntarily. We had a plan to relocate 1,000 refuges in the first phase. But the number may rise further, as many refugees are now showing interest to go to Bhasan Char," an official, involved in the process, told the FE.
"We are ready to welcome the Rohingyas. They will find much better accommodation here than the cramped camps in Cox's Bazar," Commodore Abdullah Al Mamun Chowdhury, Bhasan Char project director, told the FE last week.
The project was completed to receive the refugees one year ago, but the relocation process was deferred several times due to reservation of some international humanitarian agencies, like - the UNHRC.
The agencies cited issues like safety and communication problem, and also called for an independent technical study on these issues. But the authorities pointed out that the island is protected with three-layer protection system, including a 12-feet-high embankment around the project area.
Besides, the experts, who visited Bhasan Char recently, said relocation is the only option to ease the burden of a huge crowd of refugees in the Cox's Bazar camps.
The island is 28 km away from the Chittagong Port, and only two km from the mainland of Noakhali district.
It takes two and half hours by launch to reach the island from the Chittagong Port. So, communications to and from Bhasan Char should not be a problem, said Professor Delwar Hossain of the International Relations Department of Dhaka University.
Commenting on the issue, Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen told the FE that the relocation is necessary to decongest the Cox's Bazar camps.
He said the project has been built after conducting a study on the history of cyclones in that area for the last one hundred years.
Criticising some donors' attitude, he added that some agencies are complaining about the relocation. Their volunteers are reluctant to leave Cox's Bazar, where they can spend their leisure time in five-star hotels and resorts.
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