Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
A deal for the United Nations to start work on a remote Bangladeshi island where the government has sent thousands of Rohingya refugees offers no guarantee they will be allowed to move freely to the mainland, according to a copy of the agreement.
The Bangladesh government has moved nearly 19,000 Rohingya refugees, members of a persecuted mostly Muslim minority from Myanmar, to Bhasan Char island from border camps, despite protests by refugees and opposition from rights groups, who have likened it to an island jail and said some relocations were involuntary.
Refugees have called for freedom of movement between the remote and flood-prone island, several hours off the coast, and the sprawling mainland camps near the port town of Cox’s Bazar, while dozens have died in recent months attempting to flee on rickety boats.
The UN refugee agency, which had previously refused to provide humanitarian services on Bhasan Char until assessments were completed, did not respond to request for comment on why the deal, signed in early October, had not been made public or its contents.
In an Oct. 9 statement, the agency said the agreement covered “key areas of protection, education, skills-training, livelihoods and health, which will help support the refugees to lead decent lives on the island and better prepare them for sustainable return to Myanmar in the future”.
Bangladeshi government spokespeople were not available for comment but one official, who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to media, questioned the need for free movement.
“Why will we will offer them freedom of movement? We are providing everything they need. They will have to stay in the camps until they go back to Myanmar,” the official told Reuters.
Bangladesh says another 81,000 refugees will be moved to the island in the coming months.
A leaked copy of the deal seen by Reuters says the United Nations would be “permitted unhindered access” to the population and further relocations would be voluntary.
But it said any travel between the island and mainland would be on an “as needs” basis, the precise details of which would be determined between the United Nations and Bangladesh, though refugees can “move on and within Bhasan Char for their daily activities”.
The deal refers to Rohingya as “forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals/refugees,” reflecting the refusal of Bangladesh, which is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, to confer refugee status on the group.
