BenarNews
The United States on Thursday joined the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations in expressing concern about Bangladesh moving more than 1,000 Rohingya refugees to a remote island that critics say is uninhabitable.
In Washington, the State Department urged Dhaka to accept the U.N.’s offer to conduct a thorough and independent assessment of Bhashan Char, an island in the Bay of Bengal, to determine that living there is safe, feasible, and desirable.
“The United States has long noted its appreciation for the Government of Bangladesh’s commitment to hosting the Rohingya refugees but is concerned about the relocation of 1,642 Rohingya refugees to Bhashan Char and plans to carry out further relocations,” Cale Brown, the department’s principal deputy spokesman, said in a statement issued as the world marked Human Rights Day.