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UN: Relocation of Rohingya Refugees to Remote Island Must Stop

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - The United Nations refugee agency says it opposes the
   relocation of Rohingya refugees from Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, to a
   remote island in the Bay of Bengal.Bangladeshi authorities Friday moved
   more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char, an uninhabited Bay of
   Bengal island vulnerable to cyclones and prone to flooding.

   U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Babar Baloch says the
   United Nations was not involved in the preparation of this movement. He
   says it did not know the identification of the refugees and had limited
   information on the overall relocation operation.

   He says the UNHCR is concerned that the Rohingya refugees did not have
   the information they needed to make a free and informed decision about
   relocating to Bhasan Char.

   "We have heard reports from the camps that some refugees may feel
   pressured into relocating to Bhasan Char or may have changed their
   initial views about relocation and no longer wish to move. If so, they
   should be allowed to remain in the camps," he said.

   In 2017, nearly 1 million refugees fled persecution and violence in
   Myanmar for Cox's Bazar where they are living in squalid and
   overcrowded camps.

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