Bhasan Char ready to welcome second batch of Rohingyas

Bhasan Char is ready to welcome around 1000 Rohingyas who are coming in the second phase.

They will be taken to the island on 29 and 30 December by Bangladesh Navy ships. Navy members have already completed all necessary preparations to receive them at Bhasan Char.

"We are ready to accommodate 1 lakh Rohingyas in Bhasan Char," Commodore Abdullah Al Mamun Chowdhury, project director of Bhasan Char, told The Business Standard on Monday afternoon.

"We have come to know that in the second phase, about 1000 Rohingyas are coming to the island voluntarily from Cox's Bazar camps. We have made all kinds of preparations for their stay," he added.

The buildings designated for their accommodation have already been prepared so that they can get on in their new home as soon as they reach Bhasan Char.

Meanwhile, health workers have been instructed to conduct health check-ups of the Rohingyas after they arrive at the island.

At the same time, Bangladesh Navy personnel will provide them with food for two months, said the project director of Bhasan Char.

The news of their arrival has been met with enthusiasm among those who have come here in the first phase. The Rohingyas who came in the first phase are constantly communicating with those who are coming in the second phase over phone.

In the meantime, 30 buses and 20 trucks carrying the first group left for Chattogram around 11:45 am, according to witnesses.

Another two groups will also leave Cox's Bazar by tonight. The three groups will stay in Chattogram today and will depart for Bhasan Char on Tuesday morning.

Earlier, on 4 December, Bangladesh relocated more than 1,642 to Bhasan Char. They were brought in vehicles from different camps a day before and kept in the transit camps of BAF Shaheen College and Boat Club in Chattogram.