Bangladesh Sends Third Group of Rohingya Refugees to Remote Island

Bangladesh authorities announced on Wednesday, January 29th, that in the coming days, between two to three thousand Rohingya refugees will be transferred to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal.

This comes as human rights groups have repeatedly expressed concerns about the vulnerability of this area to storms and flooding.

Over the past two months, the Bangladesh government has transferred approximately 3,500 Rohingya refugees, a persecuted Muslim minority from Myanmar, to the island of “Bhasan Char.”

The island of “Bhasan Char,” which emerged from the sea 20 years ago, has very low elevation above sea level and is flood-prone.

Bangladesh authorities have deemed the transfer of these refugees to “Bhasan Char” necessary to reduce the chronic overcrowding in camps that currently house over one million Rohingya.

Abdullah Al-Mamun, an official with Bangladesh’s navy, told Reuters: “Last time we were prepared to transfer 700 to 1,000 refugees but ultimately more than 1,800 Rohingya were transferred there.”

Regarding the transfer of thousands of new refugees to this remote island, he claimed: “People who were previously transferred there want their friends and relatives to join them.”

Human rights organizations and refugees have called the implementation of such a plan “shortsighted and inhumane” and have called for the swift cessation of this method of “forced and involuntary” relocation.

Bangladesh authorities say these transfers are “voluntary” and “optional,” but reports from the situation of transferred refugees contradict these claims.

Source: Radio Farda