DHAKA, 03 December, 2020, (TON): Bangladesh has begun preparations to move thousands of Rohingya refugees to a remote island off its coast, officials said on Wednesday, despite opposition from many refugees and human rights groups who have urged to halt the relocation.

“Bangladesh should halt this hasty relocation process,” said Ismail Wolff, regional director of Fortify Rights. “Not one refugee should be moved until all human rights and humanitarian concerns have been resolved and genuine informed consent is assured.”

More than 300 refugees were brought to the island earlier this year after an attempt to flee Bangladesh for Malaysia by boat failed and they were stranded at sea for months.

Humanitarian and human rights groups have urged a halt to the move, saying the island, which emerged from the sea 20 years ago and has never been inhabited, is flood-prone and vulnerable to frequent cyclones, while the government has not allowed the United Nations to carry out a safety assessment.

“The authorities should immediately halt relocation of more refugees to Bhashan Char …” said Saad Hammadi, Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner, in a statement.

“The relocation of so many Rohingya refugees to a remote island, which is still off limits to everyone including rights groups and journalists without prior permission, poses grave concerns about independent human rights monitoring,” he said.

A briefing note by an international humanitarian organisation said hundreds of refugees identified by officials as willing to go to the island were taken to a transit centre on Wednesday, with some offered incentives including cash payments.

The UN in a statement has said: “Any relocations to Bhasan Char should be preceded by comprehensive technical protection assessments.”

The island of Bhasan Char, located 60km (37 miles) off the coast of Bangladesh, emerged less than 20 years ago from the sea. For the past three years, the authorities have been building a new town to relocate more than 100,000 refugees in order to ease tensions within the camps.

The Rohingya people have faced decades of systematic discrimination, statelessness and targeted violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar.