Rohingyas to be brought to one place

All Rohingyas in Bangladesh will be brought to a single place in Cox's Bazar, according to government officials.

The government has allocated five square kilometers of land for the purpose.

Relief and disaster management minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya at a function at the secretariat on Wednesday said all Rohingyas will be brought to a single place this month.

He said newly arrived Rohingyas and the old ones will be temporarily settled at Kutupalang of Ukhia in Cox's Bazar.

According to the deputy commissioner of Cox's Bazar, the total Rohingya population is 9,26,431. Some 5,23,000 Rohingyas have newly arrived in Bangladesh following persecution by the Myanmar army in the Rakhine state.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, additional deputy commissioner of Cox's Bazar Mohammad Mahidur Rahman said 150,000 sheds, 17,500 toilets, 4,000 tube wells and 14,000 latrines will be set up for 5,00,000 Rohingyas in an area of 3000 acres of land.

Meanwhile, 2500 latrines, 1800 tube-wells and 79,000 sheds have been set up.

UN resident coordinator in Dhaka Robert Watkins told AFP on Saturday that different deadly diseases may break out in an epedemic form if so many Rohingyas live in a single place.

If some of them have contagious diseases, it may spread fast, he added.

Watkins said it would be easier to take care of them if Rohingyas live in more than one place.

Rohingyas are not interested to live in one place.

Ariful Islam, who is staying in the zero point of border, said they will enter Myanmar if possible. "If we go to the relief camp, our return to Mymanmar will be uncertain," Ariful argued.

While visiting different Rohingya camps, Prothom Alo correspondents found that sheds set up for Ronhingyas can't protect them from rain.

Rohingyas said they can't stay in the shed due to the scorching hot. They themselves made tents with polythene.

Cox's Bazar district Awami League president Sirajul Mostafa said humans can't live in such unhealthy environment.