Bangladesh to UN aid agencies: Support relocation of Rohingyas to Bhasan Char island or leave the country

Refugee township on Bhasan Char island (Google Earth image)

Bangladesh has informed the United Nation that if the aid agencies do not support the government’s move to relocate around 1 lakh Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char island, the agencies will be asked to leave the country.

Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, in an interview with DW, said that the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar are overcrowded and some of them need to be relocated to the newly constructed dwellings on the currently uninhabited island on the Bay of Bengal.

Bangladesh is completing the construction of 1440 buildings on Bhasan Char island, each building meant for 16 families. The rows of identical houses made with concrete blocks and steel with red roofs are almost ready, with a group four buildings around a pond. The housing complex also will have 120 cyclone shelters, built to protect the residents from strong cyclones. These buildings will also function as hospitals, schools, community centres, aid agency offices etc.

The Bhasan Char Island is a new island, formed only twenty years ago from silts. Apart from being hit by cyclones, the island also gets flooded during high tide. To protect from that, a flood barrier has been constructed around the housing complex. The constructions started in 2018, and most of the works have been already completed.

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