Rohingya relocation to Bhasan Char begins

About 1,200 Rohingyas have boarded 20 buses from the Ukhiya, Kutupalong point on Thursday noon to start their journey towards Bhasan Char under the supervision of Army and Navy as part of the government plan to relocate one lakh Rohingyas in phases to the island.
Rohingyas from 34 camps were mobilsed at a transit camp at Ukhiya on Wednesday night. On Thursday, they were taken to Chattogram and from there they would set sail for Bhashan Char onboard a Navy ship, our local correspondent said quoting the Additional RRRC Md Shamsuddoza Noyon.
Two battalions of Rapid Action Battalion-7 and 15 have been deployed on the Cox's Bazar-Chattogram highway to ensure smooth relocation of the Rohingyas to Bhasan Char.
"All the Rohingyas (onboard the buses) have
expressed their willingness to relocate themselves to Bhasan Char and the number is increasing every hour," a senior official of Refugee Rehabilitation and Repatriation Commission told the Daily Observer preferring anonymity.
About 22officials and 100 workers of 22 local NGOs including Ganashaystha Kendra, Samaj Kallyan Unnyan Sangstha (SKUS), Plus Bangladesh, Friendship and RTM are waiting there to receive the Rohingyas on Friday morning.
"We are jointly working with the government to ensure comfortable living and livelihood of Rohingyas in Bhasan Char�we will work here to support the Rohingya brothers until their repatriation to their homeland Myanmar," Chairman SKUS Jesmin Prema told this correspondent from Bhasan Char on Thursday evening.
According to her a very conducive environment had been created for the Rohingyas to live there.
There are adequate measures to deal with disasters, including their comfortable living and livelihood. Bhasan Char will be much better than the way the Rohingyas are living in Cox's Bazar at present, she added.
"As per government decision, we will provide them cooked food for the next two months, we will supply utensils, food and grains, Cheera, baby food, cookies, oil, gas cylinder, healthcare services establish separate police station and deploy police there to maintain law and order there," she said.
"Presently 600 Rohingyas are living at Bhasan Char, we are sending them to Cox's Bazar today to meet with their family members on humanitarian ground as per the directives by the high ups," Jesmin said.
Meanwhile, the international humanitarian organizations, however, have questioned the suitability of the flood-prone islet for housing refugees.
Before start the relocation plan, AI, UN Dhaka office and EUs ambassadors stationed in Dhaka once again raised dozens of issues that need addressing to make it (Bhasan Char) safe for habitation, including protection from disasters including cyclones and tidal surges. The move has triggered concerns among the UN and the development partners who are still waiting for an independent assessment of the Bhasan Char housing project.
"In order to protect 40 sq km areas from tides and tidal surges, 13-km-long embankment and infrastructure of 120 cluster villages suitable for 100,000 Rohingyas have been constructed there," a senior official of the Disaster Ministry said.
Bangladesh has spent about US$280 million to construct housing, a large embankment, and other infrastructure on the island. An additional $92 million was allocated in December 2019 for raising the height of the embankment and to build an administration.
"Initiatives were then taken to build infrastructure at Bhasan Char to reduce the pressure on Cox's Bazar. As part of this, the government has implemented a shelter project in Bhasan Char at a cost of Tk 2, 312 crore from its own funds for the relocation of Rohingyas," a senior official of the Ministry of Relief and Disaster Management told this correspondent.
On August 25in 2017, more than 750,000 Rohingyas took refuge in Bangladesh in the face of horrific torture by the Myanmar government. A large number of Rohingyas also took refuge earlier. At present their number is at least 1.1 million.