The government has started the process of relocating around 2,000 Rohingyas from Cox’s Bazar to Bhasan Char, said officials.

They are likely to be relocated to Bhasan Char by Thursday (November 25), the officials said, adding that the Rohingyas were already gathered on Ukhiya College premises in Cox’s Bazar.

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“Some 2,000 Rohingyas will go to Bhasan Char in the first phase,” Md Mohsin, secretary of disaster management and relief, told The Daily Star today.

He said the government is planning to relocate around 80,000 Rohingyas to Bhasan Char by the end of March next year.

Mohammed Moazzam Hossain, additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, said the Rohingyas will be taken to Chattogram by bus on Wednesday and they will stay overnight there.

“On Thursday, the Rohingyas will move to Bhasan Char via ships,” he said.

Bangladesh has already relocated around 18,000 Rohingyas to Bhasan Char. The first batch of 1,642 Rohingyas was relocated to Bhasan Char on December 4 last year.

Bangladesh Navy has undertaken a Tk 3,100 crore project, titled “Ashrayan-3”, on Bhasan Char for the Rohingyas.

In the Cox’s Bazar camps, a family of 6-8 people live together within a 400sqft space. On Bhasan Char the buildings have electricity, solar panels, biogas plants, and mobile network.

The houses have been built four feet above the ground with concrete blocks. Each building will house 16 families of four in its 16 rooms — providing more than the UN stipulated 37sqft space per person, project officials said.

Although the United Nations was not engaged in the process of Bhasan Char project, it signed an agreement with Bangladesh to provide humanitarian support on October this year.

The UN’s engagement started nearly a year after Bangladesh started relocating Rohingyas to the island. After the agreement, the UN had said it will allow close cooperation between the government and the UN to provide services for Rohingyas on Bhasan Char island.



2,000 Rohingyas to be relocated to Bhasan Char by Nov 25; 80,000 by March
Source: Trend Viral Philippines