Bangladesh Allegedly Forced Rohingya Refugees To Move To Remote Islands Prone To Storms And Floods

Rohingya residents prepare to board ships as they are moved to Bhasan Char Island near Chattogram, Bangladesh (Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters, Antara)

JAKARTA - Bangladesh will send more than 1,700 Rohingya refugees to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal on Saturday, January 30. They are unfortunate, because the remote island is often hit by storms and floods.

The displacement will add to the roughly 3,500 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar that Bangladesh has sent to Bhasan Char Island since early December, from camps in Cox's Bazar.

"Today we estimate more than 1,700 people will arrive here," Commodore Abdullah Al Mamun Chowdhury, officer in charge of the island, told Reuters by telephone on Friday, January 29.

More Rohingya refugees who have voluntarily moved to the island are being relocated to the nearby port city of Chittagong from the camp. "Tomorrow they will be transferred to Bhasan Char. We estimate a total of more than 3,000," said Chowdhury.

The Rohingya, a Muslim minority who have fled violence in Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country, are not allowed to leave the island without permission from the government.

Forced or not?

Bangladesh says the relocation was voluntary. But the first few groups, dispatched in December, spoke of coercion.

The Bangladeshi government also said the overcrowding of camps in the Cox's Bazar district sparked crimes, as attempts to return them to Myanmar failed.

"What options do we have? How long can we live in crowded camps under tarps?" asked Mohammed Ibrahim, 25, on his way to the island, where some of his relatives have been moved.

"This will not work, the way the international community is handling our crisis," Ibrahim added.

Bangladesh has also dismissed concerns about possible flooding on the island. The authorities argued that there was already construction of a 12 kilometer long embankment with a height of two meters, in addition to housing for 100,000 people, a hospital and a hurricane monitoring center.

The displacement has drawn criticism for Bangladesh's reluctance to consult aid agencies, including the UN refugee agency. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the agency has not been allowed to evaluate the safety and sustainability of life on the island.

"We look forward to continuing constructive dialogue with the government regarding the Bhasan Char project, including a technical assessment and proposed UN safeguards," the agency said by email.