A joint United Nations delegation has started a three-day visit to Bhasan Char as part of their deal with Bangladesh to help provide basic services to thousands of Rohingya refugees who have been moved to camps on the remote island in the Bay of Bengal.
The 21-member delegation includes experts from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP), reports bdnews24.com.
“A Navy ship took the UN officials to the Noakhali island from Patenga Sea Beach in Chattogram on Monday. They plan to stay on the island for three days,” said Shah Rezwan Hayat, Bangladesh's refugee relief and repatriation commissioner.
The UN was initially vocal against the decision to relocate Rohingya refugees from overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar to Bhasan Char. But, on Oct 9, the UNHCR, the organisation’s refugee agency, officially signed a memorandum of understanding, or MoU, with the Bangladesh government to help the refugees.
“The agencies of the United Nations will provide humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya on Bhasan Char from now on, as they do in Cox’s Bazar,” Md Mohsin, additional secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, had said while signing the document on behalf of the government.
Basic needs such as food and nutrition, drinking water, health care, sanitation, and an unofficial education following the curriculum of Myanmar will be arranged on the island with the help of the UNHCR.
So far. the Bangladesh government has worked to ensure that these needs are met, said Mohsin.
The security issues facing the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals, local and foreign workers of different humanitarian organisations, and NGOs will be looked after by the government of Bangladesh.
“The UNHCR and WFP officials will work on the development of the supply chain, their offices, the storage system and other humanitarian activities on the island. They will meet with Rohingya refugees as well,” said Commander Anwarul Kabir, deputy director of the Bhashan Char project.
Bangladesh hosts 1.1 million Rohingya refugees who fled the crackdown of the Myanmar government at different times. As many as 700,000 Rohingya arrived at Cox’s Bazar in 2017 amid violence in neighbouring Rakhine state.
To reduce the pressure of the population in a region known for tourism, the country decided to relocate 100,000 Rohingyas to Bhasan Char from Cox’s Bazar.
So far, a total of 18,846 Rohingyas from 4,724 families have been relocated to the island. It is equipped with 120 cyclone shelters and 1,440 houses.