Bangladesh Begins Moving Second Group of Rohingya to Bhashan Char

By Staff, Agencies

Bangladesh started moving a second group of Rohingya refugees to a controversial flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal despite opposition from rights activists.

More than 1,600 of the Muslim minority from Myanmar were taken to Bhashan Char earlier this month, and Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said just under 1,000 are in the latest group heading for what he called a “beautiful resort.”

Buses took the Rohingya from camps in Cox’s Bazar, where nearly one million refugees have sought shelter from violence in their native Myanmar, to Chittagong port where they will be taken to the barren island.

“They are going voluntarily. They are very eager to go to Bhashan Char because they have heard from their relatives, those who have gone to Bhashan Char, that [it] is an excellent place,” Momen told AFP on Monday.

He claimed the island was “100 times better” than the camps, and that the refugees had “appealed” to be taken there.

“Bhashan Char is a beautiful resort. It is an excellent resort. And once anybody goes there, they will love it,” the minister added.

Two Rohingya men in the latest group told AFP they were going to the island willingly.

More than 700,000 Rohingya took shelter in the camps in Bangladesh in 2017 after a deadly clampdown by Myanmar’s military that the United Nations has said could be genocide.

After the first transfer on December 4, several Rohingya told AFP they had been beaten and intimidated to agree to move.

The Bangladesh government eventually wants to put 100,000 Rohingya on the 13,000-acre [56sq km] island, despite criticism from rights groups because of Bhashan Char’s isolation.

The UN said it has not been involved in the process.