AMN/ WEB DESK
A large number of Rohingya refugees relocated at the newly emerged island of Bhashan Char protested against their living conditions at the facility before the visiting team of UNHCR officials on Monday. AFP quoted the local police Chief that the Rohingya became unruly immediately after the UNHCR representatives arrived on the island. They threw rocks and broke the glass of the warehouse, said the police official. Police used batons to disperse the protestors in which several protesters were injured, reports AFP.
The UNHCR expressed deep concern over the incident in which refugees were injured at the Bhashan Char island.
Close to 18,000 Rohingya refugees have been relocated to the newly developed facility at Bhashan Char from the overcrowded refugee camp of Cox’s Bazar. Bangladesh hosts over 1 million Rohingya refugees who fled the army crackdown from the Rakhine province of Myanmar in 2017.
Bangladesh government developed the facility at Bhashan Char island at a cost of over 31,00 crore Taka with a capacity to accommodate over 1 lakh refugees.
Bhashan char is an uninhabited island formed in the Bay of Bengal about two decades back. Environmentalists say that the Bhashan char falls in an ecologically fragile area prone to floods, erosion and cyclones. But the government insists that adequate safety arrangements in terms of embankments and cyclone shelters have been made for the protection of the people in case of any natural calamity.