Bangladesh will move a second group of Rohingya refugees to a low-lying island in the Bay of Bengal tomorrow on Tuesday, officials said, in the midst of calls by rights groups to stop the relocation on safety grounds. More than 1,100 Rohingya refugees, members of a Muslim minority who have fled Myanmar, will be moved from a refugee camp near the Myanmar border to Bhasan Char island, two Bangladeshi officials with the knowledge of the issue said.
Earlier this month, first batch of more than 1600 people have been moved to the Char island. “Buses and trucks are ready to carry them and their belongings to Chittagong port today. Tonight, they will stay there. Tomorrow they will be taken by naval ships to the island,” one of the officials said on Monday. On one side, Humanitarian agencies and rights groups have criticised the relocation of refugees as the island is flood-prone, vulnerable to frequent cyclones and could be completely submerged during a high tide.
Bangladesh government says it is only transferring people who are willing to go and the relocation will ease the highly overcrowding in camps that are home to more than 1 million Rohingya. Mohammed Shamsud Douza, the deputy government official in charge of refugees, said a 12 km long embankment had been built to protect the island from floods along with housing for 100,000 people. Relocation was voluntary, he informed.
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