The United Nations is finally set to get engaged in humanitarian activities for Rohingyas in Bhasan Char. The UNHCR and the Bangladesh government will sign a memorandum of understanding on UN involvement in the humanitarian activities Saturday. The development comes after an impasse of more than a year between the government and the UN regarding the global body’s technical assessment of the housing facility for Rohingyas in the island. A UN team visited the island on 17-20 March this year. Later, it said the UN was grateful to the government for facilitating the visit.
The government has already relocated some 18,000 Rohingyas to Bhasan Char from Cox’s Bazar in phases since December last year. It has a plan to relocate another 80,000 Rohingyas to the island from the Cox’s Bazar camps. Bangladesh Navy implemented the Tk 3,100 crore housing project. The UN had raised concerns over risks of tidal surge and cyclone at the remote island, but the government said with 120 brick-built cluster villages and 120 cyclone shelters, flood protection embankments, facilities for education, farming and fishing, hospitals and playgrounds, the char is a much better living place than the Cox’s Bazar camps. Separate buildings for the UN and other international aid agencies have also been constructed on the island.
The government however should not give up its strides to repatriate Myanmar nationals to their ancestral homes. The relocation to a separate island may blur Rohigyas’ hope to return to a comfortable living. Dhaka must continue all-out efforts to ensure the return of the Rohingyas with dignity. Diplomatic efforts as well as strategic support should be options in this case. Some 750,000 Rohingyas fled a military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in 2017 and took shelter in camps in Teknaf and Ukhia. Their number has swelled to over a million.
