The Bangladesh government has allocated Tk 23.12 billion (almost $2 billion AUD) for the construction of homes for 100,000 Rohingyas on Bhashan Char, an island in the district of Noakhali.
The Bangladesh Navy will implement the project under the Prime Minister’s Office. The project is to be completed by 2019.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, gave the final approval for this project at the end of November.
The proposed location is 21 nautical miles from Noakhali.
Bhashan Char is also known as Thengar Char. No-one lives on this island, which is mostly used for cattle grazing. In 2013, the area was declared a forest reserve. It takes between three to three-and-a-half hours to travel to Hatia, the nearest locality on the mainland, to Bhashan Char.
Earlier this year, Reuters published a report calling the island dangerous for habitation, saying it was prone to bandit attacks, floods and cyclones. A report from the Bangladesh Forests Division last February also called it unsuitable for habitation.
A few months later a report by the Noakhali district administration declared Bhashan Char to be similar to other river islands in the area. There will be no problems building settlements if the relevant infrastructure is in place, the report said.
The sudden influx of Rohingya people to Bangladesh has caused various headaches for the Bangladeshi government who fear it is damaging the seaside city of Cox’s Bazar’s position as a tourist spot. The massive wave of Rohingya refugees is a threat to both security and the environment.
It has become difficult to find residential space for all of the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals in Cox’s Bazar. The hills and forests are also being destroyed.
Amnesty International has expressed grave concerns about the plan.
Thengar Char, the proposed place for relocating Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh's camps. The new marshy island rose around 8 years ago in the Bay of Bengal Source: STR/AFP/Getty Images
In a statement they said the Bangladesh government must abandon all plans to relocate more than 100,000 Rohingya refugees on to an uninhabitable island.
"It would be a terrible mistake to relocate the Rohingya refugees to an uninhabitable island that is far from other refugee settlements and vulnerable to flooding,” said Biraj Patnaik, Amnesty International’s South Asia Director.
“Having opened its doors to more than 600,000 Rohingya over the past three months, the Bangladesh government now risks undermining the protection of the Rohingya and squandering the international goodwill it has earned. In its desperation to see the Rohingya leave the camps and ultimately return to Myanmar, it is putting their safety and well-being at risk.”
Recently, the Bangladesh government signed a deal with the Myanmar government to repatriate the more than 700,000 refugees who fled unlawful killings, rape and the burning down of entire villages in northern Rakhine State during military attacks in October 2016 and August 2017.
Amnesty International recently published a detailed analysis into the root causes of the plight of the Rohingya, establishing that they have been trapped in a vicious system of state-sponsored, institutionalized discrimination that amounts to apartheid.
“Bangladesh should still still postpone any repatriation agreement until conditions are in place for refugees to return voluntarily and in safety and dignity,” said Biraj Patnaik.
However, the stance of Amnesty International on this Rohingya issue has not gone un-questioned. Sydney based Bengali columnist and writer Ajay Dash Gupta spoke to SBS Bangla.
“In reality Rohingya issue is a festering sore for Bangladesh," he says. "Our people in Bangladesh fulfilled their duty initially."
"Keeping thousands of refugees is not an easy thing, as their presence is responsible for damaging the environment.
"However, Amnesty International is not concerned about this at all.”
A report by the Bangladesh 's Ministry of Environment claims that the newly arrived Rohingya refugees have cost Bangladesh more than Tk 1.5 billion worth of forests.
It says hills, water bodies and beaches in Cox's Bazar also suffer environmental damage due to the Rohingya exodus from violence-torn Rakhine State of Myanmar.
Chairman of the parliamentary committee, Hasan Mahmud told reporters the Bangladesh government has sheltered the Rohingyas on humanitarian grounds. They are also getting sufficient relief materials.
"But they don't have any fuel," he says. That's why they are collecting the fuel from the forests."
"This is severely damaging the environment."
He said the Rohingyas were cutting down trees in Teknaf. "Only the Department of Forest has submitted an account of over Tk 1.5 billion loss. The total environmental damage would be larger," he said.
The former environment minister also blamed the Rohingyas for the 'collapse' of tourism sector in the resort town. "Cox's Bazar is in no condition to welcome tourists."
"Hills, water bodies are being damaged at an alarming rate."
Ajay Dash Gupta told SBS Bangla, “Amnesty International may have known that refugees in various countries were relocated to isolated islands. But Amnesty International is not raising their voice against those developed and powerful countries."
“We have to consider the reality in Bangladesh. How it effects the society and the country in which the density of population is very high.”
Listen to Dhaka correspondent Ali Habib’s report and columnist Ajay Dash Gupta’s full interview (in Bangla) with SBS Bangla in the audio player above.
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