Bhasan Char comes alive with Rohingya residents
News Desk :
Some Rohingya refugees have expressed satisfaction after their relocation to new houses on the Bhasan Char island from shanties made of bamboos and tarpaulin in cramped Cox’s Bazar camps, reports bdnews24.com.
Many of them are thinking about advising their relatives in the refugee camps to move to the remote island at the estuary of the Meghna in Noakhali’s Hatia.
One of the refugees, Mohammad Hossain, has taken his wife and two children along with him but left behind his parents and the family of his brother at the Balukhali refugee camp.
Rohingya refugee Mohammad Jobayer and his family members on the Bhasan Char island after their relocation from Cox’s Bazar. Photo: Reazul Bashar
“I feel better here. I’ll go to Cox’s Bazar after some time and try to bring them in. I’ll return alone if they don’t agree to come,” he said on Saturday after spending the first night at his new home.
Mohammad Jobayer from the Kutupalong refugee camp said: “I had never imagined I would be in such a good environment, in such a good house.”
The government has spent around Tk 31 billion on the project to relocate 100,000 out of over 1 million Rohingya people to the safer shelters from the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.
The first batch of 1,642 refugees reached the 13,000-acre Bhasan Char on Friday after two days of journey by bus and vessel.
Many of the relocated refugees were sharing their experiences with those in Cox’s Bazar by phone. Some used video calls to show their new homes. The children began playing in open spaces.
The government has maintained all along that the relocated refugees will be in better conditions than their peers in the Cox’s Bazar camps, but the United Nations and other international agencies have distanced themselves from the project.
Expressing his views on the difference between the camps and Bhasan Char, Jobayer said: “They are incomparable. The houses are made of concrete here and the shanties in Cox’s Bazar are made of polythene sheets.”
The man, who brought his wife and three children along with him, said he would never go back to Cox’s Bazar.
Most of the refugees crossed the border into Bangladesh from Myanmar over three years ago to take shelter in Cox’s Bazar, leaving behind the bodies of loved ones and burning homes. A lack of security and safety in the camps became apparent as time passed, with repeated crimes, such as murders and drug smuggling.
Abdur Rahman, another new resident of Bhasan Char, said he feels safer on the island. “I faced assaults several times in the camp. But there won’t be such problems here. I want to live well.”
“Whenever I wanted to go outside there, everyone called me a thief. It won’t happen here.”
Some Rohingya refugees have expressed satisfaction after their relocation to new houses on the Bhasan Char island from shanties made of bamboos and tarpaulin in cramped Cox’s Bazar camps, reports bdnews24.com.
Many of them are thinking about advising their relatives in the refugee camps to move to the remote island at the estuary of the Meghna in Noakhali’s Hatia.
One of the refugees, Mohammad Hossain, has taken his wife and two children along with him but left behind his parents and the family of his brother at the Balukhali refugee camp.
Rohingya refugee Mohammad Jobayer and his family members on the Bhasan Char island after their relocation from Cox’s Bazar. Photo: Reazul Bashar
“I feel better here. I’ll go to Cox’s Bazar after some time and try to bring them in. I’ll return alone if they don’t agree to come,” he said on Saturday after spending the first night at his new home.
Mohammad Jobayer from the Kutupalong refugee camp said: “I had never imagined I would be in such a good environment, in such a good house.”
The government has spent around Tk 31 billion on the project to relocate 100,000 out of over 1 million Rohingya people to the safer shelters from the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.
The first batch of 1,642 refugees reached the 13,000-acre Bhasan Char on Friday after two days of journey by bus and vessel.
Many of the relocated refugees were sharing their experiences with those in Cox’s Bazar by phone. Some used video calls to show their new homes. The children began playing in open spaces.
The government has maintained all along that the relocated refugees will be in better conditions than their peers in the Cox’s Bazar camps, but the United Nations and other international agencies have distanced themselves from the project.
Expressing his views on the difference between the camps and Bhasan Char, Jobayer said: “They are incomparable. The houses are made of concrete here and the shanties in Cox’s Bazar are made of polythene sheets.”
The man, who brought his wife and three children along with him, said he would never go back to Cox’s Bazar.
Most of the refugees crossed the border into Bangladesh from Myanmar over three years ago to take shelter in Cox’s Bazar, leaving behind the bodies of loved ones and burning homes. A lack of security and safety in the camps became apparent as time passed, with repeated crimes, such as murders and drug smuggling.
Abdur Rahman, another new resident of Bhasan Char, said he feels safer on the island. “I faced assaults several times in the camp. But there won’t be such problems here. I want to live well.”
“Whenever I wanted to go outside there, everyone called me a thief. It won’t happen here.”
