Crisis For Rohingya Muslims Deepens As Bangladeshi Authorities 'Forcibly' Relocate Refugees To Bhasan Char Island

Bangladesh, after providing refuge to Rohingyas who faced atrocities in Myanmar, has now begun relocating them to an island in the Bay of Bengal which is said to be insufficient for housing over 7,00,000 refugees. People alleged torture and force, read on.

Relatives of Rohingya refugees gather outside the transit camp before the start of relocation of refugees, in Ukhia on December 3, 2020. (Photo by Munir Uz Zaman / AFP)

New Delhi: Authorities in Bangladesh have begun the relocation of Rohingya families to Bhasan Char island in the Bay of Bengal, local media reported.  Kutupalong refugee camp in Southern Bangladesh on Thursday saw refugees and their belongings being pulled away while their relatives struggled hard at the scene, crying out profusely and running behind the vehicles in vain. The Associated Press reported cases of refugees being forcibly moved. For instance, 60-year-old Khulsuma Khatun, her daughter Fatima Begum and her son-in-law were "forcibly" taken to the transit camp and "tortured" by Bangladeshi security. "They were forcibly brought to the transit camp and then again they are forcibly being taken away. We heard that they have tortured my daughter's husband very badly. He did not mention it to us as he feared for his life. I will greatly appreciate it if my daughter can be allowed to go back (to Kutupalong). My grandsons' and other daughters are crying," Khulsuma Khatun told AP. Jannat Ara who is 18 years old revealed that the police detained her father and forced him to agree for relocation by threatening him with guns. "First of all my father was arrested by the police. My father was beaten badly after they arrested him. He was put in a dark cell for one day and night. He was threatened with guns and beaten up with big canes. They have tortured my father very badly. They asked him to choose between death or going. That's when my father agreed to go to Bhashan Char. To save his life. My mother does not agree but since my father is going, my mother is also going," she said. Besides being usually submerged during monsoon rains, Bhasan Char island is not enough to shelter the 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who had to flee Myanmar because of violent persecution -  it is said to be capable of housing around 100,000 people only. An approximate 700,000 people had to flee Myanmar since August 2017, when the military in the Buddhist-majority country went after their community in response to an attack by insurgents. Bangladesh stepped up to offer support in that period, however, now the Bangladeshi government has argued that they want to reduce overcrowding in the refugee camps near Cox's Bazar. Several global rights groups and the United Nations have urged the authorities to not go ahead with the relocation to Bhasan Char. Foreign media have not been permitted to visit the island while the camps are reported to be unhygienic - the spread of diseases and organized crime said to be rampant. Education is again limited and refugees cannot seek employment. WATCH | Lack of 'rice' in China amid crisis