Authorities insist the refugees were selected for relocation based on their willingness, and that no pressure was applied on them
Rohingya refugees stand in a queue after they disembarked from a Navy ship to Bhashan Char, in Chittagong, on Tuesday. Pic/AFP
Five Bangladesh navy ships carrying over 1,700 Rohingya refugees left the southeastern port city of Chittagong on Tuesday for an isolated, flood-prone island where they will be relocated despite concerns among human rights groups about their safety.
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The refugees were expected to reach Bhashan Char island after a three-hour naval journey, a government official involved with the process said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media, said the refugees were taken to Chittagong from their camps in Cox's Bazar by buses on Monday and stayed overnight in a temporary camp.
Authorities insist the refugees were selected for relocation based on their willingness, and that no pressure was applied on them. But several human rights and activist groups say some were forced to go to the island, located 34 kilometers from the mainland.
The island surfaced only 20 years ago and was not previously inhabited. It was regularly submerged by monsoon rains but now has flood protection embankments, houses, hospitals and mosques built at a cost of over $112 million. The island's facilities are designed to accommodate 1 lakh people, just a fraction of the million Rohingya Muslims who fled waves of violent persecution in their native Myanmar and are currently living in crowded, squalid refugee camps in Cox's Bazar district.
Authorities sent 1,642 Rohingya to the island on Dec 4. International aid agencies and the UN have opposed the relocation since it was first proposed in 2015, expressing fear that a big storm could overwhelm the island and endanger thousands of lives.
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