1,200 Rohingyas to be shifted from Cox’s Bazar to Bhasan Char on Dec 3-4 – National – observerbd.com
1,200 Rohingyas to be shifted from Cox’s Bazar to Bhasan Char on Dec 3-4
Myanmar’s ethnic Rohingya population who have been staying in Cox’s Bazar will be shifted to Bhasan Char in Noakhali district on December 3 and 4.
It is learnt that more than 1,200 Rohingyas from 500 families living in camps in Ukhia and Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar will be shifted to Bhasan Char on December 3 and 4. The Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner’s (RRRC) Office in Cox’s Bazar will supervise the shifting of the Rohingyas. Moreover, 23 local NGOs will also accompany them.
1,200 Rohingyas to be shifted from Cox’s Bazar to Bhasan Char on Dec 3-4
The Bangladesh government has constructed a total of 1,440 buildings, including 120 cyclone shelters, to relocate 100,000 Rohingya refugees from the camps in Cox’s Bazar. The shelter project has been built on 40 sq km area
spending more than Tk 3,000 crore for the
relocation of Rohingyas.
Buildings are equipped with electricity and solar panels as well as bio-gas plants and mobile phone networks.
The houses have been built four feet above the ground with concrete blocks. The entire housing site is protected by a 13-km-long flood embankment.
A family of four will live in each room in the new township which the Bangladesh government built for over Tk 3,000 crore over three years. Each building will house 16 families in its 16 rooms providing more than the UN stipulated 37 square feet per head.
Two playgrounds are ready for the Rohingya children. Extra space for playing is also available in every cluster house. There are places for prayers, burials, and markets. Accommodations have also been made available for officials of the government, the UN and different NGOs.
In order to protect 40 sq km area from tides and tidal surges, 13 km long embankment and infrastructure of 120 cluster villages suitable for 1,00,000 Rohingyas have been constructed.
At a meeting of the National Economic Council in December last year, the cost of the project for Bhasan Char was increased by Tk783 crore to Tk3,095 crore. The extra money will increase the height of the dam from 10ft to 19ft, increase ancillary facilities, and build a building and jetty for the UN delegations.
In order to witness and monitor the medical treatment facilities of the shifted Rohingya at Bhasan Char, the Directorate of Health has already formed a five-member team.
1,200 Rohingyas to be shifted from Cox’s Bazar to Bhasan Char on Dec 3-4
Dr Fariduddin Mia, Director (Hospital and Clinic) of the Directorate of Health, has been made the team leader, while Noakhali’s Civil Surgeon will work as the ‘focal person.’
Other members of the committee are Line Director (Community Based Health Clinic) of the Directorate of Health, Chattogram Divisional Commissioner (Health) and Feni’s Civil Surgeon.
A notice signed by Dr Sheikh Mohammad Hasan Imam, Director (Admn) of the Directorate of Health, on November 26 last said that the committee members would be present at Bhasan Char and visit the hospitals and community clinics established there. They will also take necessary steps to ensure the treatment facilities of the patients there.
Besides, they will monitor the shifting of the Myanmar’s Rohingya from Cox’s Bazar camps to Bhasan Char in Noakhali.
Dr Fariduddin Mia, Director (Hospital and Clinic) of the Directorate of Health, told journalists on Sunday that a 20-bed hospital and community clinic have been built for Rohingya of Cox’s Bazar. In fact, the Chattogram Divisional Director has been supervising it. The Rohingya have been informed that they would be shifted to Bhasan Char on December 3 and 4. “We’ll go there to ensure necessary treatment facilities for the shifted Rohingya people,” he said.
On August 25, 2017, more than 750,000 Rohingyas took refuge in Bangladesh in the face of horrific torture by the Myanmar government. A large number of Rohingyas also took refuge earlier. At present their number is at least 1.1 million.
The Bangladesh government, with the help of the United Nations and other countries, has set up camps in Ukhia and Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar and given them shelter, but has always demanded Myanmar to take them back.