Govt: UN will engage in Bhashan Char operations very soon

Two senior officials of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who visited Bhashan Char on Monday, are very positive about the island, Md Mohsin, secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, the line ministry with respect to the Rohingya issue, told Dhaka Tribune on Wednesday.   

The UN will engage in the Bhashan Char operations very soon, he said.

Assistant High Commissioner for Operations Raouf Mazou and Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Gillian Triggs visited Bhashan Char on Monday. While in Bhashan Char, the senior UNHCR officials observed different aspects of the island and interacted with a large number of Rohingyas, who were relocated there from the camps in Cox’s Bazar.   

“I had a one-hour meeting with two assistant high commissioners today [Wednesday]. We talked about different issues on the Rohingya crisis including the relocation to Bhashan Char,” Secretary Mohsin told this correspondent.

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“Both the assistant high commissioners are very positive about Bhashan Char,” he said.

“We do hope that the UN will engage in the operations very soon. This is also the demand of the relocated Rohingyas, who demonstrated while the UNHCR officials were on the island,” he added.

When asked for a timeframe of the beginning of UN engagements, Mohsin said, “Well, its bit difficult. We will hold a couple of bilateral meetings with the UN. We will hold some internal meetings too. All I can say is that the UN will engage very soon.”

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In reply to a question he said, “There are some issues the UN wants us to address and we are in the process of addressing those issues.

As asked to mention the issues, the top bureaucrat cited voluntariness, education for children and livelihood for the relocated Rohingyas.

“Every Rohingya went to Bhashan Char voluntarily. We will follow this principle in case of future relocation. We are also working on the issues related to education for the children and livelihood,” he said.