Rights Group Urges Bangladesh To Stop Relocating Rohingya Refugees To Remote Island

Bangladesh should immediately stop the relocation of vulnerable Rohingya refugees to the remote island of Bhashan Char in the Bay of Bengal and begin the immediate return of all those who have been moved already, a prominent rights group said on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2020) Bangladesh should immediately stop the relocation of vulnerable Rohingya refugees to the remote island of Bhashan Char in the Bay of Bengal and begin the immediate return of all those who have been moved already, a prominent rights group said on Thursday.

"The authorities should immediately halt relocation of more refugees to Bhashan Char, return those on the island to their families and community in mainland Bangladesh, and follow due process including the full and meaningful participation of refugees in any plan for their relocation," Saad Hammadi, Amnesty International's South Asia campaigner, said in a press release published by the organization.

Hammadi added that the Bangladeshi government should wait for the United Nations and humanitarian groups to carry out independent assessments of the living conditions on Bhashan Char before any refugees are relocated to the island.

The Bangladeshi government has planned to move as many as 100,000 Rohingya refugees from crowded camps to the 15 square mile island located 37 miles from the coast of the mainland. Rights groups have previously said that relocating Rohingya refugees to the island, away from the observation of humanitarian and protection groups, may amount to arbitrary detention.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, roughly 800,000 Rohingya refugees fled fighting in Myanmar's Rakhine State to Bangladesh from August 2017 to June 2019, amid fierce clashes between government forces and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, an insurgent group that operates in Rakhine State.