Bangladesh Begins Relocation of Rohingya Refugees
Kutupalong is currently the largest of multiple Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh (Wikimedia Commons).
The government of Bangladesh began to relocate large groups of Rohingya refugees from camps across Bangladesh to the island of Bhasan Char on December 3. Although the government insists that the refugees have consented to the relocation, many human rights organizations, including the UN, have objected.
As a Muslim minority in Myanmar, the Rohingya face genocidal violence. An exodus en masse has brought almost 800,000 Rohingya refugees to camps in Bangladesh since August 2017, making the Rohingya population in Bangladesh about 1.1 million. The majority of these refugees settled in Bangladesh’s Cox Bazar district. Bangladesh’s foreign minister, Dr. AK Abdul Momen, stressed on December 3 that the presence of this many Rohingya will “jeopardize regional and international security” if they remain in Bangladesh without the chance to return to Myanmar or go elsewhere.
The government’s plan allegedly entails the relocation of more than 100,000 Rohingya refugees from multiple camps to Bhasan Char. However, not much information has been revealed to human rights groups, the news media, or to the refugees themselves. “I cannot confirm the number of people and timing of their journey. These are yet to be finalized,” said Mohammad Shamsud Douza, a refugee relief and repatriation commissioner.
This lack of information, specifically about the safety of Bhasan Char, has provoked backlash from human rights groups. The UN raised concerns about the idea of moving large groups of people to the small, flood-prone island. Bhasan Char only surfaced 20 years ago and had previously been submerged by monsoon waters. Omar Waraich, the Head of South Asia at Amnesty International, pointed out, “Bhasan Char has not been deemed safe for human habitation by the UN.”
The UN requested that the Bangladeshi government allow it to assess the island; however, they have not received the necessary tools to conduct such an assessment. The UN released a statement on December 2 claiming that it had no involvement in the relocation of refugees and said that the relocation should “be preceded by comprehensive technical protection assessments.” The UN technical and protection assessment has been pending since November 2019, but the Bangladesh government has left it unaddressed to date.
These various human rights groups also objected to the relocation of the Rohingya, especially in light of reports of human rights abuses against the refugees. According to some anonymous aid workers, authorities either threatened or bribed many refugees to move to the Bhasan Char settlement. Waraich said, “Many of the Rohingya we have spoken to have not given full and informed consent to being moved to an island they know nothing about.” While one refugee expressed his belief in a “better life” at the Bhasan Char settlement, even more have told stories about being coerced into relocating or having their names placed on the relocation list without their consent. Refugees who already inhabit the island of Bhasan Char have reported an “isolated prison-like life,” where their human rights are suppressed. Bhasan Char also lacks adequately functioning facilities on the island, namely hospitals.
The Rohingya refugees have no recognized citizenship in Bangladesh or in Myanmar, meaning they do not have legal protection. Brad Adam, the Human Rights Watch Asia director, called on “donor governments engaged in the Rohingya crisis response” like the United States, the UK, Japan, and others to stand against the treatment of the Rohingya in Bangladesh.