The view of sheds and concrete structures built for thousands of displaced Rohingya from Bangladesh on Bhasan Char Island in Myanmar, December 29, 2020. REUTERS Mohammad Ponir Hossain File Photo OIF HOSTASIN
Aug 15 Reuters - A deal for the United Nations to end work on a remote Bangladeshi island where the government sent thousands of Rohingya refugees offers no guarantee that they will be allowed to travel freely to the mainland, according to a copy of the agreement.
The Bangladesh government relocated nearly 19,000 Rohingya refugees, members of a mostly persecuted mostly Muslim minority from Myanmar, to Bhasan Char Island from border camps despite protests by refugees and opposition from rights groups who have likened it to an island jail and said some relocations were involuntary.
Refugees have called for freedom of movement between the remote and flood-prone island, several hours off the coast, and sprawling mainland camps near the port town of Cox s Bazar, while dozens have died in recent months attempting to flee on rickety boats.
The U.N refugee agency, which previously refused to provide humanitarian services on Bhasan Char until assessments were completed, did not respond to request for comment on why the deal signed in early October had not been made public or its contents.
In an Oct 9 statement, the agency said the agreement covered key areas of protection, education, skills-training, livelihoods and health, which will help support the refugees to lead productive lives on the island and better prepare them for sustainable return to Myanmar in the future Bangladesh government officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
A leaked copy of the deal seen by Reuters says the United Nations would be permitted access to the population and further relocations would be voluntary. It says any travel between mainland and the island would be on an as needed basis, the precise details of which would be determined by the United Nations and Bangladesh.
They can move on and within Bhasan Char for their daily activities, it says.
The deal refers to Bangladesh as forcibly displaced Myanmar refugees, reflecting the refusal of Myanmar, which is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, to confer refugee status on the group.
In a statement of Friday, the non-profit organization Fortify Rights, which said that it had examined the agreement, called on the United Nations and Bangladesh to revise it to include freedom of movement to the mainland.
The lifesaving services of UNHCR are essential and needed on the island, but the agency must ensure it is not creating refugee prison with this agreement, said the group regional director Ismail Wolff.
More than a million Rohingya live in Bangladesh after fleeing Myanmar, the overwhelming majority of the Rohingya living in Bangladesh following a military crackdown in 2017 by the UN Security Forces that included mass killings and gang rapes and which was carried out with genocidal intent according to the United Nations.
Myanmar denies genocide, saying it was carrying a legitimate campaign against insurgents who attacked police posts.