Rohingyas in Bhasan Char new geopolitics arisen

A Bangladesh Navy ship carrying more than 300 members of the second batch of Rohingyas has reached Bhasan Char in Noakhali. The other four ships are also coming to Bhasanchar one by one.

The first ship of the Rohingya navy reached Bhasan Char at around 12.45 pm on Tuesday, December 2020.

The second group of Rohingyas includes 1,804 women, men and children from more than 400 families.

At around 9.15 am, the Rohingya group left for Bhasan Char in five navy ships. Navy ships sailed from Chittagong Boat Club.

The Rohingyas left for Chittagong from different camps in Cox’s Bazar on Monday to go to Bhasan Char. With them, more than 30 buses left Ukhia Degree College grounds for Chittagong from 11:30 am to 4:00 pm.

An official from the Office of the Commissioner for Refugees and Repatriation said Rohingyas willing to go to Bhasan Char voluntarily have been including their names in the offices of their respective camp officials since last Sunday. Then they went to Chittagong from Rohingya camp yesterday to go to Bhasanchar.

Earlier, on December 4, in the first phase, 36 buses carrying Rohingyas went to Chittagong from Ukhia College ground in Cox’s Bazar. Later, 1,642 Rohingyas were taken to Bhasan Char by naval ship.

Read blog: Rohingya-relocation

Bhasan Char new geopolitics with Rohingyas

Two years ago, the Bangladesh government planned to relocate a portion of the 1.1 million Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar. Due to social problems Bangladesh Govt. are trying to relocate Rohingyas to different places in Bangladesh. More than one lakh people have been accommodated in the 13,000-acre char at a cost of Tk 2,312 crore with the government’s own funds.

However, international organizations, including the United Nations, have objected to the relocation of Rohingya to Bhasan Char. The Rohingyas are worried about the safety of the island, which is isolated from the sea. Commodore Abdullah Al Mamun Chowdhury, director of the Bhasan Char Shelter Project, said no cyclone had crossed the island in the last 176 years.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have sought refuge in Bangladesh over the past few decades after being persecuted in Myanmar.

Although Bangladesh has an agreement with Myanmar to take back the refugees, there is still uncertainty about it. For this reason, the Bangladesh government took initiative to relocate the Rohingyas to Bhasan Char