The government is set to relocate a group of 1,703 more Rohingyas to Bhasan Char on Wednesday, offering the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals a better life until they are repatriated, reports news agency UNB.
Buses carrying this batch of Rohingyas left Ukhiya in Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday afternoon, said additional refugee, relief and rehabilitation commissioner Md Samsuddouza Nayan.
They are expected to reach the Chattogram transit point in Patenga in the evening. Thy will leave for Bhasan Char in the morning.
“In the fifth phase, around 3,000 Rohingyas are expected to be relocated to the island,” Samsuddouza said.
So far, 9,540 Rohingyas have been relocated to the island in four phases, sources at the Office of the Refugee Relief & Repatriation Commissioner said.
The fourth batch was shifted to Bhasan Char on 15 February. The first batch was taken to the island on 4 December last year.
Where is Bhasan Char?
Located 34 kilometres off the mainland, the island surfaced 20 years ago and was never inhabited.
Contractors say its infrastructure is like a modern township, with multifamily concrete homes, schools, playgrounds and roads. It also has solar-power facilities, a water supply system and cyclone shelters.
The island has all the modern amenities and a police station has been set up there recently.
Bangladesh spent millions of dollars to develop Bhasan Char and plans to relocate 100,000 Rohingyas there in phases in the face of growing concerns over the extreme congestion in Cox’s Bazar camps and to avert any risk of death due to landslides and other unwarranted incidents.