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This is the third group of Rohingya refugees sent by Bangladesh to an island in the Bay of Bengal to decongest the mainland refugee camps. This relocation plan raises criticism for the conditions on the island, although the Bangladeshi authorities assure that the transfer is voluntary.
Bhasan Char, a remote island in the Bay of Bengal is the destination of a group of more than 1,700 Rohingya. Almost 7,000 refugees from this Muslim minority already inhabit the island, after the Government of Bangladesh decided to relocate them there to lighten the density of refugee camps in the southeast of the country.
The island, which was uninhabited until now, emerged only 20 years ago and is at constant risk of flooding, which is why several human rights organizations have criticized the relocation.
The refugees departed for Bhasan Char on Bangladeshi Army ships from the city of Chittagong, a port in the east of the country. The island prepared to receive about 3,000 Rohingya, as another group is expected to depart on Saturday.
“We plan to send another 1,500 tomorrow. The number could change slightly depending on the willingness of the Rohingya,” the deputy commissioner for refugees from Bangladesh, Shamsuddoha, told EFE.
A voluntary relocation?
The Government of Bangladesh defends the relocation plan that it already announced in 2017, as an imperative necessity, to empty the refugee camps that came to host 738,000 Rohingya. He also ensures that moving to the island is voluntary.
However, the first groups to arrive in Bhasan Char, in December 2020, reported being coerced.
In addition, voluntariness is relative: “What options do we have? How long can we live in crowded fields under tarps?” One of the Rohingya, Mohammed Ibrahim, claimed to Reuters.
“This is not going anywhere, the way the international community is handling our crisis,” he added from one of the ships that transferred him to Bhasan Char.
The Rohingya, homeless since 2017
The Muslim minority of the Rohingya have been homeless for years. In 2017, some 738,000 refugees arrived in camps in Bangladesh fleeing persecution and violence perpetrated by security forces in neighboring Myanmar.
Authorities in Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country, consider the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. However, most of the Rohingya and their ancestors were born in Myanmar.
The UN called the Myanmar Army’s violence an ethnic cleansing and possible genocide, charges that are under investigation in international courts.
The United Nations has also repeatedly expressed skepticism about the relocation plan, especially due to the lack of transparency of the Government of Bangladesh, and refused to participate in the transfers.
With EFE and Reuters
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source https://pledgetimes.com/bangladesh-moves-more-rohingya-to-remote-flood-risk-island/
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