By MD Ismail | March
10, 2017
Cox’s Bazaar,
Bangladesh — “Forced relocations to hazardous ‘Thenga Chor’ Island could put
our lives at risk” said a Rohingya refugee representative to the minister of
the Relief and Disaster Management of Bangladesh last Saturday (Apr 8).
The Relief and Disaster
Management minister, Mr. Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, visited the
‘Kutupalong’ refugee camps on Saturday morning and discussed with the refugee
committee regarding the Bangladesh government’s soon-to-be implemented refugee
relocation plan to the ‘Thenga Chor’ Island in the country’s ‘Noa Khali’
district.
During the meeting,
Mr. Mofazzal Hossain said “Bangladesh government has taken a decision to
relocate both registered and unregistered refugees to the ‘Thenga Chor’ Island
in the ‘Noa Khali’ district in a very short course of time. The reason why the
Bangladesh government has taken the decision is that it can’t afford to allow
such a huge number of refugees live in this part of the country.”
The refugee
committee members and the representatives questioned the minister about his
government decision and said “we see the island to be uninhabitable and prone
to natural disasters; and also the dangers posed by the local pirates and
miscreants could put our lives at risk. And so, the island is not ready to live
on yet.”
The minister replied
“we are trying to get rid of dangers you are worried of. And we are trying to
make the island habitable for you.”
The Rohingya
refugees are now mostly concentrated at the southern tip of Bangladesh
bordering their home country Myanmar. The refugees — registered, unregistered
and the newly arrived after the October 9, 2016 Violence in Myanmar — are
fearful of forced relocations to an island with hostile and unfamiliar
environment. The island appeared out of water some 10-12 years back and remains
submerged in the sea during monsoon.
More than the
apparent socio-economic reason, there is a geopolitical reason for the
Bangladesh towards Myanmar being behind this heavily criticised relocation plan
as some security analysts believe. The move could significantly reduce the
chances of the Rohingya resistance movements against the Myanmar military in
the future.