Bangladeshi naval vessels carried about 1,600 Rohingya refugees toward a remote island in the Bay of Bengal on Friday despite complaints by refugees and humanitarian groups that some were being coerced.
Bangladesh says it is only moving refugees who are willing to go to Bhasan Char and it will ease chronic overcrowding in camps that are home to more than 1 million Rohingya, members of a Muslim minority who have fled neighboring Myanmar. But refugees and humanitarian workers say some of the Rohingya had been coerced into going to Bhashan Char, a flood-prone island that emerged from the sea 20 years ago.
A naval official said the Rohingya were aboard seven boats, with two more carrying supplies, that set out from the southern port of Chittagong. Refugees were packed across the decks of the naval vessels on plastic chairs. Some brought umbrellas to shelter from the sun on a journey that takes several hours.
Rohingya refugees must be able to make free and informed decisions about relocating to Bhashan Char, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Friday. The U.N. agency called on Bangladesh to uphold its commitment that relocation of Rohingya to the island will be voluntary, spokesperson Babar Baloch told a U.N. briefing in Geneva, Reuters reported. UNHCR stood ready to evaluate conditions on the island to ensure that it is a "safe and sustainable place for refugees to live," if permitted by the government, he said.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it had interviewed 12 families whose names were on the lists but had not volunteered to go. Two aid workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said refugees had come under pressure from government officials who used threats and offers of cash and other enticements to persuade them to go to the island.
"They beat my son mercilessly and even smashed his teeth so that he agreed to go to the island," said Sufia Khatun, 60, who came to see off her son and five other relatives, as reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP). But Bangladesh's Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen called the claims "a damn lie," and said the facilities on the island were "much better" than in the camps.
The U.N. said in a statement it had been given "limited information" about the relocations and was not involved in preparations.
Bangladesh has spent some $400 million from its own coffers building shelters and a 9-foot (3-meter) flood embankment around the facilities.
Bangladesh has built more than 1,000 cinderblock housing units on Bhasan for the Rohingya refugees. More than 300 refugees were brought to the island earlier this year after several months at sea in an attempt to flee Bangladesh. Rights groups say they are being held against their will and have complained of human rights violations.