They want to stay on Bhasan Char until they return to Rakhine

The first batch of Rohingyas relocated from Cox’s Bazar to Bhasan Char is pleased to see the promises of a safe life in the new locale are true. They now just want to be assured of a livelihood too. And for the time being, they are willing to remain in Bhasan Char until they can return home to Rakhine. The relocated Rohingyas expressed these sentiments while talking to Prothom Alo on Saturday.

Bhasan Char was alive with the hustle and bustle of the Rohingyas. Children were playing in their new grounds. Around noon, five little girls gathered together at a shop to buy pickles and chips. A government official there bought the pickles for them.

Saiful Islam Chowdhury Kalim, coordinator of the ‘NGO Alliance for Bhasan Char’ comprising 22 local and foreign NGOs, said they had preparation of a year’s supply of humanitarian aid. Other than assistance from donors, they would provide this assistance at their own initiative. In the meantime, many of their donors had shown keen interest in Bhasan Char.

Saiful Islam said they would provide the same assistance as they had been providing the Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar. Would they then be also shifting their aid activities from Cox’s Bazar to Bhasan Char? “We have just come here, replied Saiful, “We’ll evaluate the situation and then decide.”

It has not been determined what sort of humanitarian assistance, whether cash or otherwise, these 22 aid organisations will provide at Bhasan Char.

The NGO representatives spoke to the media on Saturday at the 20-bed hospital in Bhasan Char. Representative of the Noakhali civil surgeon’s office, Mahtab Uddin, said within the next week the health complexes in Bhasan Char would be ready to perform surgeries and conduct COVID tests. With the help of the navy, emergency patients would be transported by speed boat from the island for treatment on the mainland.

Director of the Asrayan-3 project, Commodore Abdullah Al Mamun Chowdhury said in keeping with the government decision, the air force was always prepared for any emergency requirement on Bhasan Char.