Staff Reporter :
All Rohingya refugees, who arrived in Bangladesh fleeing violence in Myanmar, will be moved to the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhiya upazila of Cox’s Bazar district, said Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya.
“An additional 1,000 acres forest land will be allocated for expanding the Kutupalong refugee camp, increasing the allocated land to 3,000 acres. The new land will be allocated to bring all Rohingya refugees under one site,” Maya said at a press conference at his ministry’s conference room on Thursday.
The Minister also said the Rohingya refugees who entered Bangladesh since 1978 and are staying in temporary camps will also to be brought to the camp.
“More than 75,000 sheds have been constructed in the camp so far and the government will construct a total of 150,000 sheds to accommodate the Rohingya people there,” he added. Efforts are underway to recover those Rohingyas who have taken refuge in the hilly areas outside the camp. Rohingyas currently in areas of Bandarban will be moved to this camp starting October 3.
Maya said over half a million Rohingays have arrived in Bangladesh between August 25 and October 4 this year. Of them, 61,000 have had their biometric data registered. It will take two to two and a half months to complete the whole process. “Two lakh Rohingya people have been vaccinated and 61,000 have received Vitamin A,” he added.
The government has decided to construct 17,500 latrines in addition to 3,500 latrines that were already built in the camp, the Minister said.
For access to safe drinking water, 1,528 tube wells have also been installed, Maya said.
A police station and a fire service station will also be set up within the camp. The Minister also warned against doing politics over the Rohingya issue. “The Foreign Ministry has sent a letter informing us to refer to the Myanmar nationals currently taking refuge in Bangladesh as ‘forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals,” said Disaster Management and Relief Secretary Shah Kamal.
Following a series of attacks on border police posts and an army camp, the Myanmar military began a crackdown in Rakhine State on August 25, which led to a mass exodus of Rohingyas in Bangladesh.
Prior to the latest influx, nearly 400,000 Rohingyas had earlier arrived in Bangladesh in the past few decades, fleeing violence in Myanmar.
