The Rohingyas will not be forced to relocate to the refugee camp in Bhashan Char in Noakhali, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman said on Tuesday.
“They [the Rohingyas] will be relocated to Bhashan Char only if they agree to it, and in coordination with UNHCR and the international community,” the state minister said at the inauguration ceremony of a sewage treatment plant at the Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhiya upazila, Cox’s Bazar.
The sewage treatment plant, first of its kind in Bangladesh and the largest plant for refugee settlements in the world, has the capacity to treat the excrement of 150,000 people every day.
The plant was constructed in a joint collaboration of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Oxfam Bangladesh.
“This plant has been constructed using timber, bamboo and other natural material. Plants like this are a huge and safe step forward in terms of combating emergency situations,” the state minister said.
He further added that if this project became successful, more such projects would be implemented in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.
“These projects will also be a model for the sewage treatment plants in the cities of the country,” he said.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Disaster Management and Relief Secretary SM Shah Kamal, Refugee Rehabilitation and Relief Commissioner Md Abul Kalam, Additional Deputy Commission of Cox’s Bazar Md Sarwar Kamal, Oxfam Country Director Dipankar Dutta, and officials of UNHCR, International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other international organizations working in the refugee camps.
