The stalemate over the United Nations involvement in humanitarian services to Rohingyas in Bhasan Char camp ended with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the UN and the government of Bangladesh on Saturday. It will facilitate close cooperation between the global body and the government in providing the Rohingyas with different services in the remote island. Rohingyas, living in Bhasan Char, also hailed the development and hoped the UN engagement will ensure them more food, better facilities and opportunities to earn as well.
When the government in December began relocating Rohingyas to Bhasan Char from camps in Cox’s Bazar, the UN was keeping itself aloof, citing various reasons, including the absence of an independent assessment of the housing facility built for Rohingyas on the island. The government has so far relocated about 18,000 refugees to Bhasan Char in phases and plans to shift about 81,000 more to the island in three months.
Bangladesh has been hosting more than 11 lakh displaced Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar. Most of them fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown in Myanmar in August 2017. The MoU will cover protection, education, skills-training, livelihoods and health of the Rohingyas, help support the refugees to lead a decent life and prepare better for their sustainable return to their homeland Myanmar in future. Prior to the signing, the UN held discussion with the Rohingya refugee community in Cox’s Bazar, as well as with those already in the island during a visit to Bhasan Char in March last, to better understand their needs and views.
Bangladesh Navy implemented the Tk 3,100 crore housing project with 120 brick-built cluster villages and 120 cyclone shelters, flood protection embankments, facilities for education, farming and fishing, hospitals and playgrounds. The UN had raised concerns over risks of tidal surges and cyclones at the remote island despite the government’s assurance that the char is a much better living place than the Cox’s Bazar camps.
Arrangement for better care of the Rohingya refugees is a good step but not the solution. Their lives are miserable and their families shattered. Many of them are desperate to leave and go elsewhere. The Rohingyas must be accepted back by Myanmar. We are powerless and friendless in this regard.
