The fourth batch of Rohingyas slated for relocation to Bhashan Char left the refugee camps in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar, on Sunday.
Around 2,000 Rohingyas of the latest batch left for a transit camp set up on the premises of BAF Shaheen College in Patenga in total 37 buses at around 12pm. From where they will be moved to the island in Noakhali with the help of the Bangladesh Navy on Monday.
The convoy carrying the members of the persecuted community from the Rakhine state of Myanmar were escorted by vehicles of the law enforcement agencies, confirmed sources.
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Contacted, Additional Commissioner for Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission (RRRC) Mohammad Samchu Dauja said: “A total of 37 buses left Ukhia for Noakhali’s Bhashan Char in the morning and noon on Sunday on the fourth phase of the relocation process.
“Tomorrow, around 2,000 more Rohingyas will leave for the island. They all will be moved on Monday.”
Earlier on January 29, some 1,778 more Rohingyas were relocated to Bhashan Char in the third phase of the effort.
In the first two phases – December 4 and 29 – some 3,446 Rohingyas were relocated to the Noakhali island.
Also Read- 1,778 more Rohingyas reach Bhashan Char
Buoyed by the success of the first second and third relocation, the government is continuing its effort to relocate some 100,000 Rohingyas to Bhashan Char in phases to provide them with a better living place.
Located 34km from the mainland, the island under Hatiya upazila of Noakhali surfaced 20 years ago and was never inhabited.
Contractors say its infrastructure is like a modern township, with multi-family concrete homes, schools, playgrounds, and roads. It also has solar power facilities, a water supply system, and cyclone shelters.
Also Read- Govt plans to close one Rohingya camp
Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar district and most of them entered Bangladesh since August 25, 2017, amid a military crackdown on Rohingyas in the Rakhine state of Myanmar, which the UN called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and other rights groups dubbed as "genocide."
Bangladesh has been urging the global community to mount pressure on Myanmar for effective repatriation of the Rohingyas.