A batch of 379 more Rohingyas reached Bhasan Char in the seventh phase under the supervision of Bangladesh Navy on Thursday afternoon.
Earlier on the day, 132 Rohingya men, 98 women and 149 children left Chittagong Port for Bhasan Char on a naval ship. These refugees are part of some 1,500 Rohingyas slated to be relocated to the island in this phase.
Md Shahidul Islam, superintendent of police (SP) in Noakhali, said: “The Rohingya people arrived in Bhasan Char at 3pm by naval ship Penguin. This is the first phase of Rohingya relocation in Bhasan Char since the United Nations has joined the effort.”
According to Navy sources in Chattogram, 257 Rohingyas in the first group and 122 Rohingyas in the second group were brought from Ukhia in seven buses to the Navy’s transit camp at Patenga Wednesday, where initial health check-ups were carried out and food was provided to them.
About 1,500-2,000 Rohingya men, women and children willing to go to Bhasan Char in the seventh phase gathered at the temporary transit point – Ukhiya Degree College – since Tuesday noon.
Jamalida Begum, leader of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights in Ukhia, said the residents of the camp in Ukhia feel unsafe after the killing of Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah and the gun attack on a madrasa in Rohingya camp. “So, most of the Rohingyas are willing to move to Bashan Char.”
Meanwhile, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Bhasan Char Police, said about 1,500 Rohingya refugees are expected to reach Bhasan Char in the seventh phase. “All the preparations have been completed to receive them.”
In six phases, over 18,500 Rohingyas have been shifted to Bhasan Char so far.
Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in camps in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char. Most of them have come to this country since August 25, 2017, when the Myanmar military launched a brutal offensive targeting the Muslim ethnic minorities.
Source: United News of Bangladesh