DHAKA: Human rights groups urged Bangladesh on Thursday to stop its plan to ship thousands of Rohingya refugees to a remote island as officials said the first group of 400 could leave later in the day.
Police escorted the refugees in 10 buses from Ukhiya in Cox’s Bazar for the journey to Chittagong port and then on to Bhasan Char – a flood-prone Bay of Bengal island that emerged from the sea 20 years ago.
Bangladesh says moving refugees who agree to go to the island will ease chronic overcrowding in its camps which are home to more than 1 million Rohingya, members of a Muslim minority who have fled neighboring Myanmar.
“The authorities should immediately halt relocation of more refugees to Bhashan Char,” Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner Saad Hammadi said in a statement.
US-based advocacy group Refugees International said the plan was “short-sighted and inhumane” while the Fortify Rights Group said the relocations may be “coerced and involuntary” and should cease immediately.
Mohammed Shamsud Douza, the deputy Bangladesh government official in charge of refugees, said the relocation was voluntary.
“They are going there happily. No one is forced. The government has taken all measures to deal with disasters, including their comfortable living and livelihood.”
A senior foreign ministry official said the refugees were being moved because there was little prospect of repatriating them to Myanmar.
Bangladeshi officials said the first 400 of 2,500 refugees would leave on Thursday evening, depending on the tide. The journey takes several hours.
More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar in 2017 following a military-led crackdown that the United Nations has said was executed with genocidal intent. Myanmar denies genocide and says its forces were targeting Rohingya militants who attacked police posts.
A senior Bangladeshi official has said housing was built for 100,000 people on the island and authorities want to relocate them during the November to April dry season when the sea is calm.
The United Nations said in a statement it had been given “limited information” about the relocations and was not involved in preparations.
Omar Faruq, one Rohingya leader who had been on a government trip, said the island was “truly beautiful,” with better facilities than in the refugee camps and that he would be ready to go, but that most people did not want to go there.
“We don’t want to end up living an isolated prison-like life,” said Nurul Amin, one Rohingya refugee who was not on the list.
More than 300 refugees were brought to the island earlier this year after several months at sea in an attempt to flee Bangladesh. Rights groups say they are being held against their will and have complained of human rights violations.
Rights groups urge Bangladesh not to ship Rohingya to island
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Rights groups urge Bangladesh not to ship Rohingya to island
- Police escorted the refugees in 10 buses from Ukhiya in Cox’s Bazar for the journey to Chittagong port and then on to Bhasan Char
Davos: Secretary-general of the Muslim World League calls for ‘indivisible justice’ in New York Declaration endorsement
- Sheikh Dr. Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa tells forum that “sincere” and “tangible” understanding among religious leaders to ensure human life and dignity remains supreme value
DAVOS: Secretary-General of the Muslim World League and Chairman of the Muslim Scholars’ Council Sheikh Dr. Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa participated in the main dialogue session at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.
Speaking in a session titled “The Moral Responsibility of Religious Leaders in Conflicts,” Al-Issa emphasized the importance of religious leaders supporting and endorsing the New York Declaration as the just and wise option.
The declaration was issued in July by the High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, and adopted by the UN General Assembly with a majority of 142 votes.
Al-Issa also stressed the importance of a “sincere” and “tangible” understanding among religious leaders that human life and dignity — including the protection of lives, rights, and legitimate freedoms — is a supreme value that every human being deserves as a general principle.
He called for the stripping away of any immunity or sanctity from methods used to justify oppression and persecution, emphasizing that silence in this regard was not neutrality, but rather complicity. He urged exposing the falsehood of using religious texts as tools to ignite unjust wars or deny legitimate rights.
“Any text used to justify killing is a betrayal of the text,” he said, adding: “Justice is indivisible, and there is no selectivity in dignity and mercy.
“Dehumanizing the other is the first step toward every humanitarian catastrophe, and toward the chaos of our world. Innocent blood has no classification that elevates some above others.”
He added: “True religious leaders are not spokespeople for power. Rather, they are guardians of virtue and justice, and advocates for dialogue and peace.”
