1,642 Rohingyas Start Journey for Bhasan Char from Chattogram

Some 1642 Rohingyas boarding seven ships from Chattogram began their journey to Bhasan Char, an island about 37 miles off the coast of the Bay of Bengal under Hatiya Upazila of Noakhali.

Two other vessels carrying goods have already arrived on the island, Lt Commander MK Zaman Shamim told the media.

He said two boats and two defender boats and four country boats are giving the Scottish to the caravan.

Naval vessels Shah Paran and Shah Makhdum carrying 1019 luggage entered Bhasan Char on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, Chattogram arrived from Cox's Bazar, where they have been living since 2017. They stayed overnight at Zahur BF base in Chattogram.

The Navy has prepared the Tk 3,100-crore housing project, funded with public money, after some 750,000 Rohingyas fled a brutal military campaign in Myanmar's Rakhine state and took shelter in Cox's Bazar in the months following August 2017.

They joined some 300,000 other Rohingyas, who had fled previous waves of violence in Rakhine.

The UN and various rights groups reported that they have little details on what was going on and that the government had yet to authorize a technical team to evaluate the viability of the Bhasan Char housing project.

UN and rights groups have been questioning the idea of relocation them to Bhasan Char, saying it is a low-lying isolated island and has risks of flooding, but at a point last year agreed to send a technical team to assess the condition and requested the government to allow the visit before relocation.

In a statement on Wednesday, the UN claimed that it had minimal details on the relocation exercise and was not involved in the planning process. It confirmed that it was ready for a visit by the technical team and for consultation with the government. The UN also said that any relocation should be voluntary and that all security measures must be in effect.