DHAKA, 09 October 2021, (TON): Some 19,000 of the refugees are now staying in Bhashan Char island

Bangladesh wants to send more than 80,000 Rohingya refugees to Bhashan Char facilities after sealing an agreement for the United Nations.

Some 19,000 of the refugees have already relocated from Cox's Bazar to Bhashan Char, despite doubts raised by aid groups.

He told media “Bangladesh refugee commissioner Shah Rezwan Hayat said that tens of thousands more would go once the monsoon storms end in November. "We are aiming to relocate some 81,000 Rohingya] to Bhashan Char by the end of February to complete the 100,000 quota.”

The government has spent about $350 million building shelters on the 53 square kilometre (20 square mile) island which was formed by tidal silt deposits about 20 years ago.

Some Rohingya groups alleged that people were forced to go to Bhashan Char, which is 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the Bangladesh mainland.

More than 850,000 Rohingyas have been living in camps in Cox's Bazar since they fled a Myanmar military clampdown in 2017 that the UN says could be genocide.