DHAKA, 22 March, 2021 (TON): The UN completed its first visit to the 14,000 refugees relocated island in Bangladesh.

The three-day visit to Bhasan Char, dubbed Rohingya Island, began on 17 March with UN experts traveling by boat from Chottogram.

Louise Donovan, spokesperson for UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at Cox’s Bazar said, “The UN team was made up of 18 experts from different UN agencies engaged in the Rohingya refugee response in Bangladesh. The visit was facilitated and accompanied by officials of the government of Bangladesh.”

Located in the Bay of Bengal, 60 km from the mainland, Bhasan Char was built by Bangladesh in 2006 using Himalayan silt, at the cost of more than $360 million, to ease the overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar.

Each Bhasan Char house has concrete rooms measuring 2m x 2.5m, with small windows and a toilet, for 11 people.

However, the UNHCR said it was concerned about Bhasan Char’s vulnerability to severe weather and flooding, leading to a UN proposal in December 2019 for a “technical assessment” of the island.

Wednesday’s visit marked a breakthrough as it follows various attempts by the UN refugee agency to visit the facility, awaiting government permission to carry out the evaluation, amid concerns about whether the relocation was safe. However, similar concerns were raised by several international rights organizations who urged Bangladesh not to relocate the Rohingya to the island, reasoning it was located in an area prone to cyclones.