Say Int’l agencies likely to change views in favour of relocation if they visit the island
The government move to relocate 1,642 Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char has invited some negative international scrutiny, but local NGOs and experts have said international aid agencies might change their minds if they visited the island.
Global rights groups claimed that many of those who were relocated to the housing project in the island under Noakhali’s Hatiya upazila were coerced to do so. The UN, meanwhile, said it lacked information on the relocation and was not involved in the exercise.
The government negated the criticisms, saying the concerns about the Rohingya refugees’ safety and the Bhasan Char project’s sustainability were well addressed.
It argued that cyclone Amphan could do the project no harm as the structures have been sufficiently elevated and embankments have been built for flood protection. There are cyclone shelters, schools, hospitals, livelihood opportunities and playgrounds — facilities that are far better than those in the crowded refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.
Apart from the risk of landslides, the government cited issues such as drug peddling, human trafficking, a rising trend of gender-based violence and conflicts between factions of the refugee communities in Cox’s Bazar as major reasons for the relocation.
Saiful Islam Chowdhury Kalim, coordinator of the alliance of 22 local NGOs that have been engaged in humanitarian activities in Bhasan Char with their own funds, said the office of the Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (RRRC) that supervises the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar is doing the same in Bhasan Char.
“We have stock of food for six months. Now we are assessing the demand and challenges ahead,” he told this correspondent. “Initially, the NGOs cooked food for the Rohingyas but now they are provided stoves, gas cylinders and food stuff to cook for themselves [in Bhasan Char].”
Saiful Islam said they too had negative idea about the Bhasan Char project initially, but everything became clear after visiting the site.
“I think international agencies’ idea will change if they come here,” he said, adding that there is no such infrastructure for refugees anywhere in the world. He said they are searching for international donors, but if they fail, they have contingency plans for mobilising funds locally.
Besides, Rohingyas can eventually be engaged in income-generating activities that can be helpful, he said.
Prof Imtiaz Ahmed, director at the Centre for Genocide Studies of the International Relations Department at Dhaka University, said it is unfortunate that the UN has not congratulated Bangladesh for its efforts to improve the lives of Rohingya refugees through relocation.
He said a country has the right to shelter refugees in places that it finds suitable. There will always be some issues wherever they are, but the government has built a planned housing. The facilities at Bhasan Char may not provide all the privileges the refugees want, but is much better than the present ones in Cox’s Bazar.
“Bangladesh is not only a victim of Myanmar’s genocidal acts, but also of global and regional geopolitics,” Prof Imtiaz said. The international community is not as vocal on Rohingya repatriation as it is on the Rohingya situation in Bangladesh, he added.
“The UN should focus on Myanmar and repatriation, not Bangladesh, on the Rohingya question,” he said.
Asked on funds and management of Rohingyas in Bhasan Char, the professor said he expects UN and other aid agencies will get involved in Bhasan Char soon.
Prof Imtiaz said the UN is not against relocation, but there is a communication gap between the government and the UN. “It should be removed immediately for the better.”
Meanwhile, a few NGO officials working in the Rohingya camps said the government had become more adamant aboutthe relocation because international aid agencies made “excessive level of criticism” about the Bhasan Char project, even though the government had spent $350 million from its own fund for the betterment of the refugees. Also, they said the Rohingyas, especially families with young girls unwilling to be engaged in any conflict, had volunteered to go to Bhasan Char.
They also pointed to international aid agencies’ high-handedness in management of the Rohingya camps.
A statement Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen made to this correspondent recently is reflective of this. He said government officials working in refugee camps are provided “financial incentives” by international aid agencies, whose foreign workers also draw high amount of benefits due to high per diems in Cox’s Bazar, which is why they are reluctant to move to Bhasan Char.
While these claims need to be verified, local NGOs have long been saying that international aid agencies’ operations in the camps were too expensive — an issue that needs to be addressed by employing Bangladeshi NGOs at operational levels.
Two UN officials reacted differently when asked whether the UN would be involved in Bhasan Char as the government wants it to be. One said they would not go unless a technical assessment by a UN team is done, while the other said the UN Refugee Agency is obliged to go to Bhasan Char if the government wants as looking after refugees — wherever they are — is its mandate.
“We are observing what happens in Bhasan Char… how the community fares,” a UN official told this correspondent.
