Bangladesh reconsiders refugee move

17 February 2020
Bangladesh reconsiders refugee move
Buildings intended to accomodate members of the Rohingya refugee community on the silt islet Bhashan Char in the Bay of Bengal. Photo: AFP

Bangladesh announced on Sunday that it may drop previous plans to move 100,000 Rohingya refugees to a remote island located in the Bay of Bengal in the country's south.

Lauding recent development projects on the islet of Bhasan Char and plans to turn it into a business hub and "new Bangladesh," Foreign Minister Abul Kalam Abdul Momen said Bangladeshi citizens left homeless due to river erosion or other reasons should instead be settled there.

Bhasan Char, a remote islet where Bangladesh announced in 2018 it would resettle 100,000 Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar, is measured 15,000 acres at low tide and 10,000 acres at high tide, according to the government sources.