Bhashan Char: 3rd, 4th Rohingya batches to move on January 29-30

The third and fourth batches of Rohingyas will be relocated to Bhashan Char island from the camps in Cox's Bazar on Friday (January 29) and Saturday (January 30), government officials concerned told Dhaka Tribune on Wednesday.

About 3,000 Rohingyas – nearly 1,500 in each batch – will move to their new temporary homes on the island under Noakhali district, they said.

Bhashan Char was developed by the Bangladesh Navy at a cost of about Tk3,100 crore with a plan to relocate around 100,000 members of the persecuted community from Myanmar's Rakhine state now sheltered in congested camps in Cox's Bazar.

In the first two batches, on December 4 and 29, last year, a total of 3,414 Rohingyas were relocated to the island in a government effort to decongest the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar.

"Yes, two batches of Rohingyas will head for Bhashan Char on January 29 and January 30," Mohammad Shamsud Douza, additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner (RRRC), told this correspondent from Cox's Bazar.

The Cox's Bazar-based office of the RRRC under the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief is the top government body on the ground to look after the Rohingyas, including those in Bhashan Char.

"According to the plan so far, we are expecting around 3,000 people on Friday and Saturday," a senior officer of the Bangladesh Navy, now with the Bhashan Char project, said from the island.

"Like in the past, we are well-prepared to make their stay comfortable on the island," he said.

"The third batch of about 1,500 Rohingyas will be transferred to Chittagong on Thursday night. They will sail in our ships on the following morning," said another Bangladesh Navy officer.

"The fourth batch will arrive on Friday evening and start their voyage, also in navy ships, on Saturday morning," he said.

The officer also said that the Bangladesh Navy would look after the Rohingyas while they were in Chittagong and ensure their safety on their way to Bhashan Char.