Storms ahead for Rohingya refugees
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim
April 18, 2021 23:14
Rohingyas are seen on board a ship as they are moving to Bhasan Char island in Chattogram, Bangladesh. (Reuters)
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With all attention focused on the events following the coup in Myanmar, where the death toll has already surpassed 1,000, Bangladesh is contending with the new reality of over one million Rohingya refugees becoming a permanent fixture within its borders.
When the military decided to remove the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD party, they not only ended the veneer of democracy in Myanmar but also closed off the possibility of any progress that may have been made in talks to repatriate the Rohingya to their homeland.
ABC Religion & Ethics
Mohshin Habib, Christine Jubb, Henri Pallard, and Zakir Morshed
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Tue 6 Apr 2021, 9:01am
A Rohingya boy at the Balukhali refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, after a fire destroyed thousands of shelters, killed fifteen people, and left 400 residents missing. (Photo by K.M. Asad / LightRocket via Getty Images)
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Bangladesh has accommodated more than a million Rohingya refugees at a significant cost to its economy. Nevertheless, it now finds itself subject to international condemnation for relocating some Rohingyas to Bhasan Char a silt island built up through tidal activity over the last twenty years. Even so, Bangladesh has now relocated 14,032 Rohingyas to Bashan Char in an orderly manner. The UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, Mia Seppo, has recognised the Bangladesh government’s investment of USD$350 million to build infrastructure on Bhasan Char, which provides better facilities and infrastructure than those ava
Different countries envoys to visit Bhashan Char on April 3 | Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) bssnews.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bssnews.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
1,778 more Rohingyas reach Bhasan Char in 3rd batch from Ctg
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CHATTOGRAM, Jan 29, 2021 (BSS) – A total of 1,778 Rohingyas reached Bhasanchar from city’s Patenga Boat Club in the third phase as part of their relocation under the supervision of Bangladesh Navy today after 29 days later of second batch.
Earlier, they came to Patenga from Ukhiya Balukhali camp in Cox’s Bazar and started their journey with the help of five naval ships for Bhasan Char around 10.20 am today after an overnight stay at a temporary transit camp of BAF Shaheen College here.
The first group of 1,642 Rohingyas reached Bhasan Char on December 4 and the second batch of 1,804 Rohingya people on December 29, in 2020 under the supervision of the Bangladesh Navy, the Navy sources said.
UN accused of paying lip service on repatriation while thousands of Rohingya wait on barren island
Dhaka denies the accusation as officials meet Myanmar counterparts to discuss ways to send the Rohingya home
Rohingya refugees arrive on the island of Bhasan Char
Credit: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters
The days on the barren silt island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal have developed into a mundane rhythm for Fatima, a single mother with a teenage daughter, who was transferred there in December along with hundreds of Rohingya from the overcrowded refugee camps on the Bangladeshi coastline.
She spends her time going to the market, cooking and sitting. The grey breeze-block barracks on the island lack character or home comforts, but they are, she says, an improvement on the flimsy tarpaulin and bamboo huts in the sprawling camps that house more than a million people.