Bangladesh relocates 2,000 more Rohingya to offshore Island

The fourth group of Rohingya refugees, people who fled persecution in Myanmar, have been relocated from a crowded refugee camp to an island in the Bay of Bengal, a process that has raised questions about whether Bangladesh has their best interests in mind.

Five navy ships carrying 485 women, 577 men and 948 children reached Bhasan Char island, police officer Mahe Alam said.

The refugees were sent to the newly built settlement after initial medical checkups, he said, adding that more than 8,500 refugees have been moved to the island since the process began in December.

Bangladesh says the island housing is the best option available, but some human rights activists wonder if the move is being made under duress, in an attempt to clear the migrants off of the mainland.

"None was forced to go there," said Mohammad Shamsudduza, the deputy head of Bangladesh's Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission, adding that many in the new batch were encouraged to do so by relatives already living in the island.

However rights groups have voiced concerns, noting that the island is regularly submerged by monsoon rain and vulnerable to cyclones every year. The island is located some 35 kilometres from the mainland.

The government sent the first batch of refugees to the island in December.

Bangladesh has been hosting more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims in crowded camps in its south-eastern district of Cox's Bazar since they fled persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar in 2017. Bangladesh invested almost 350 million dollars to build up the island's infrastructure.