More Rohingya sent to Bangladesh island, with hopes for future, ducks,
chickens
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[December 29, 2020]
By Mohammed Ponir Hossain
BHASAN CHAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) -
Bangladesh moved a second group of Rohingya Muslim refugees to a
low-lying island in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday, despite opposition
from rights groups worried about the new site's vulnerability to storms.
The United Nations says it has not been involved in the relocation but
urged the government to ensure no refugee is forced to move to Bhasan
Char island, which only emerged from the sea 20 years ago.
The Bangladesh navy took the 1,804 Rohingya to the island in five ships,
with the refugees sitting on wooden benches on deck, some clutching
ducks, pigeons and chickens in bamboo baskets and wearing orange life
vests and masks against the coronavirus.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Dec/29/images/ads/current/graue_20enclave_122820.png)
A first group of 1,642 Rohingya, members of a minority group who have
fled from violence in Myanmar, were relocated from their camps near the
Myanmar border to the isolated island earlier in the month.
The move has faced opposition, especially from aid groups worried about
a disaster in a country that regularly faces severe weather, especially
along its coast.
In 1991, nearly 143,000 people were killed when a cyclone whipped up a
4.5-metre (15-foot) tidal surge.
The government has built a 2-metre (6.5 feet) high embankment for 12-km
(7.5 mile) to protect the island along with housing for 100,000 people.
It dismisses the risks.
"The island is completely safe," Foreign Minister Abdul Momen told
Reuters in the capital, Dhaka.
Upon reaching the island, navy personnel on a jetty helped the refugees
ashore, many of them with sacks of belongings slung over their
shoulders.
"Bhasan Char is better," said one middle-aged man who arrived with his
wife and three children from a refugee camp of bamboo and plastic
shelters packed across muddy hills near the Myanmar border, where some
one million Rohingya live.
The man said the head of his old camp had convinced him that the island
was a better option.
Reuters is withholding the names of refugees going to the island because
of the controversy surrounding the relocation with many refugees keen to
stay on the mainland and opposed to the move.
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![](../images/122920PIX/news_x47.jpg)
Bangladesh navy personnel check Rohingyas before they board a ship
to move to Bhasan Char island in Chattogram, Bangladesh, December
29, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain
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'SUFFERING AND CONFLICT'
Tractor trailers and army trucks took the refugees to their new
concrete homes and bunk beds. Navy officials took a Reuters
photographer to a farm where sheep grazed on the greenish-gray grass
overlooked by a watchtower.
The government says the relocation is voluntary but some refugees
from the first group have spoken about being coerced to go. The
human rights group Amnesty International also expressed concern.
"(A) lack of transparency in the consultation process with refugees,
and allegations from within the community about cash incentives
being offered to Rohingya families to relocate to Bhashan Char as
well as use of intimidation tactics are making the relocation
process questionable," the group said.
Foreign Minister Momen rejected such doubts.
"The Rohingya people who have shifted there are very happy with the
arrangement. Some evil groups are spreading negative propaganda," he
said.
Two Rohingya men told Reuters they moved to their new home
voluntarily, one to join relatives, the other in "hope of a better
life" with his wife and six children.
"There's so much suffering and conflict in the camp," said the
father, referring to his old refugee-camp home.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Dec/29/images/ads/current/peasley%20lda%20080907.png)
A young Rohingya man, who moved in the first group, sent Reuters a
phone video of his new room with bedding for four, and said he was
urging friends back in the camps to consider the island.
"Happy with everything here but feeling anxious for my friends and
teachers," the 18-year-old said.
"They don't want to come here. They've got used to the camps."
(Additional reporting and writing by Ruma Paul in Dhaka; Editing by
Krishna N. Das and Robert Birsel)
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