Noor Sadek and his staff were busy preparing and selling paratha and dal in his makeshift shop at Bhasan Char. Outside the shop, people were standing in line to buy breakfast.
“I sell only breakfast every day. Sales are around Tk 2,000-3,000,” said a smiling Sadek, a Rohingya refugee.
He had the same business in Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar. He set up this shop two days after arriving on the island on December 4.
The main difference he finds here is that the area is not congested and no one demands extortion money. “I am happy with this. The more people will come to Bhasan Char, the more I will be able to sell,” he said.
Like Sadek’s, around 100 makeshift shops were established inside the Bhasan Char housing area. From food to cosmetics, many household goods are now available in these shops as the island slowly comes to life with thousands of Rohingyas settling there.
However, there has been no visit of a UN team to the island yet. The UN and rights groups have been questioning the relocation plan, saying the island is prone to floods and could be submerged during high tides.
Meanwhile, the second group of Rohingyas arrived on December 29.
On being shown pictures and videos of the facilities, over 10,000 Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar have already registered their names with the Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Commissioner’s office to move to Bhasan Char.
Since the arrival of the first group, the refugees have started getting used to living on the island and setting up small endeavours — such as small shops inside the housing area to sell snacks, clothes, betel-nut, cosmetics and other products.
This correspondent observed on his third visit to the camp, on December 30, the brand-new housing area now has multiple shops set up in an unplanned manner. Many of the shopkeepers said they set up shops without any prior permission from the authorities concerned.
Abdul Hakim runs a small restaurant in the housing area. He sells rice, curry, tea, snacks, and cigarettes.
“Sales are good. I sell goods worth around Tk 5,000-6,000 each day,” he said, adding that he sources the items from the Bangladeshi-owned shops at Bhasan Char.
“I gave orders to them and they supplied me accordingly. As Rohingyas cannot move everywhere [outside the housing project], they sell to us.”
There is a temporary kitchen market where Bangladeshis sell vegetables, meat, chicken and other grocery items to the Rohingyas.
Many refugees said they are happy with the facilities provided here by the Bangladesh government and that they don’t want to go back to the cramped tarpaulin-made houses in the camps in Cox’s Bazar.
They also cited better law and order, no security concerns at night, and no need to carry water from a distance, compared to the camps in Cox’s Bazar.
But some refugees complained that there is a shortage of cylinder gas as one cylinder for each family per month is not enough.
“We got everything. If we get more cylinders, then there will be no problem in cooking,” said Sanjida Khatun. She added they can now even walk together with neighbours at night.
However, the refugees said they want opportunities to work so that they can bear additional expenses. Staples such as rice, oil, dal, spices and other food items are provided to the refugees by 22 non-government organisations.
SIGNS OF LIFE EMERGE
In the morning, around 10-12 people were seen fishing in the Meghna estuary that encircles the island.
One of these men was Md Rafique. He said when he was back in his village in Myanmar, he used to fish in the river but after arriving in Bangladesh, he has not yet gotten a chance to fish.
“Now, I have the chance to fish. If the authorities allow us to fish in the sea, we will be very happy. We can earn our livelihood,” he said.
This seems unlikely, however, as in Cox’s Bazar, several groups of Rohingyas were caught and sent back several times when they were heading towards Malaysia on wooden fishing boats and trawlers. Even now, a total of 306 Rohingyas who attempted to travel to Malaysia are currently at Bhasan Char.
This correspondent observed men and women in the housing area busy setting up and participating in livelihood and leisure activities. A music club and a sporting club was opened in the camp area for the recreation of teenagers and young adults.
In the afternoon, two teams of refugees were playing football while another group was playing volleyball. Some people were seen singing songs, accompanied by the harmonium and tabla.
Officials said it is now extremely important to arrange education for kids, jobs for men and some income-generating activities for women so that they can see a future here, otherwise they would be frustrated.
Officials of the ministries of education, health and family planning, agriculture and forest have visited the island.
“The Rohingyas are happy now. The sooner we can arrange livelihoods for them, the better it will be to manage. At least education can be started for kids and women can be given sewing machines,” said Commodore AA Mamun Chowdhury, director of the Ashrayan-3 Project (the official name of the Bhasan Char project).
