"I look after around 100 buffalo on behalf of the owner. "He assured me my daughter would be able to get married there and that my son would be able to get a good job.". Video'Nervous, but excited' young Americans get the jab, Why this WW2 hero didn't get a Victoria Cross. It's been six months since 55-year-old Rashida Khatun has heard from her children. UN investigators say as many as 10,000 people were killed and more than 730,000 Rohingya fled the massacre for Bangladesh. Hundreds of buffalo and sheep stood grazing, and watching over them was 50-year-old cattle rancher Tajul Haq, who said he had been working on the island for the past five years, caring for the buffalo. Situated less than 2m (6ft) above sea level, the island is made entirely of silt, Himalayan sediment washed down river and into the sea. On the first visit to the island by journalists, the BBC went to investigate what the future holds for the tens of thousands of Rohingya still living in limbo. Fourteen people died. Faruque founded Omar's Film School with his brother in early 2020. On Monday, a large fire broke out at a refugee camp, leaving 45,000 people homeless (above). Eventually, Bangladesh's coast guard, bowing under the pressure from local media and human rights groups, intervened. "They are dead against the plans to relocation to the island. An attempt at recreation in Cox’s Bazar. In the same week Khatun's children departed, a fishing boat carrying dozens of refugees capsized just off the coast of Bangladesh. Even for Khatun, the idea of leaving the camps to be reunited with her children is too much of a risk. We have been working with Rohingya refugees since the Bangladesh camp was established and our local experts and volunteers are already providing emergency food, clean water and health advice to vulnerable families. From April to November, heavy monsoon rains make life more perilous for refugees in the overcrowded camps. "My daughter sounded very anxious. The United Nations and rights groups have condemned the relocation to the island, which is prone to cyclones and flooding. Here, Myanmar is close. "The houses are good in Bhasan Char, but it looks like a prison," said Nur Hossain, a Rohingya camp resident who had seen pictures of the island, and spoken to Rohingya elders who visited. Navy officials were keen to point out two schools, a mosque, two 40-bed hospitals and two community clinics, all currently under construction. About 1,000 Rohingya refugees to be moved to cyclone-prone island despite calls by rights groups to stop relocation. The isolation of Bhasan Char is also something the Rohingya fear. The government plans to eventually move 100,000 Rohingya to the remote island as it aims to decongest refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, which shelter approximately one million Rohingya. "In Cox Bazar we are living as a community," he said. Read about our approach to external linking. Along with hundreds of other refugees who had also been refused entry to Malaysia, Khatun's children were not allowed to return home to the camps of Cox's Bazar, but were instead taken to the small island of Bhasan Char, in the Bay of Bengal. Driven by their belief in a better future, her 17-year-old daughter and 22-year-old son boarded a small fishing vessel with two dozen other Rohingya refugees and began the 10-day journey from Cox's Bazar to Malaysia.Â. Kutupalong refugee camp (Bengali: কুতুপালং শরণার্থী শিবির) is the world's largest refugee camp. "The Bangladesh government wants us [the elders] to speak publicly in the camps in favour of the island. Most arrived in the first three months of the crisis. "The crisis is now becoming a regional threat. But they were being tracked by the Malaysian Navy. An estimated 12,000 reached Bangladesh during the first half of 2018. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the risks for a community that is already vulnerable are heightened in the densely-populated refugee camps. All that we saw stood vacant, waiting for an influx of refugees. A massive fire that swept through the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday has left 10,000 families—roughly 45,000 people—displaced and in urgent need of food, water, and sanitation services, Oxfam w arned today. The fire displaced roughly 50,000 Rohingya refugees of the genocide in Myanmar and destroyed many buildings, including schools and food storage centres. Alex Dattani, 31, from Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, contracted coronavirus while at the Rohingya refugee settlement in southern Bangladesh. Two years have passed since more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees arrived in Bangladesh, after fleeing violence by the Myanmar military, which the UN … ", Photographs: Salman Saeed and Akbar Hossain. He showed off what he said was 120 cyclone shelters capable of withstanding 260kph winds. All of the 306 refugees living on the island, including Khatun's two children, were relocated to the island against their will and none are allowed to leave. I'll not go to Bhasan Char. On 22 March 2021, a fire in Cox’s Bazar caused widespread devastation when it quickly spread across four Rohingya refugee camps, displacing around 50,000 refugees … Ariana Grande gets married in 'intimate' ceremony1, Global ban on gas boilers from 2025 proposed2, Darwin's Arch in Galapagos Islands collapses3, Migrants reach Spanish enclave in record numbers4, 20 firms make half of all one-use plastic - study5, Ninety missing at sea in the wake of cyclone Tauktae6, Amazon wants to buy MGM Studios for $9bn - reports8, Fear and mourning as Israel-Gaza violence rages on9, The woman who unseated a prime minister of 20 years10. Close to a million Rohingya have been living in crowded camps in southern Bangladesh that comprise the world’s largest refugee settlement since fleeing … In Cox's Bazar, the massive refugee camp in Bangladesh to which many of the Rohingya refugees fled, violence and drug and human trafficking are on the rise. Since March, UNHCR and partners have been supporting the Government of Bangladesh primarily in COVID-19 preparation and … For others in the camps, living so close to the border between Bangladesh and their homeland of Myanmar offers some solace. The film school Rohingya refugee Faruque Mohammed co-founded is now delivering COVID information to refugee settlements in Cox's Bazar. There has been no let up to the worst violence in years despite widespread calls for a ceasefire. Besides increasing congestion and environmental degradation, it's also challenging health and security in the area," she said at the UN General Assembly last year. "One of my relatives in Malaysia phoned me last year. It is one of two government-run refugee camps in Cox's Bazaar, the other being the Nayapara refugee camp. Their efforts include taking a small pool of journalists, including the BBC, on an exclusive media tour of the facilities, all coordinated by and under the watchful eye of the Navy and intelligence service. After years of living in temporary shelters, and with no hope of returning to their ancestral homeland, Khatun's son and daughter had become desperate to escape the escalating violence and lack of opportunities in the camps. So they decided to flee to the Muslim majority country of Malaysia. Many refugees live in flimsy bamboo and tarpaulin shelters where the dangers of everyday life remain all too real. Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Bangladesh. "There is plenty of open space. Refugees and humanitarian workers say some of the Rohingya were coerced into going to the island, which emerged from the sea only 20 years ago. On March 22nd, a devastating fire swept through parts of Kutupalong Refugee Camp, home to around 700,000 Rohingya refugees.Our team in Bangladesh was on the ground within 24 hours to support affected families. We would have to live under Navy surveillance.". Scenes 1 day after massive fire in #Rohingya #refugee camp in #Bangladesh. Here they will have electricity which they don't have in Cox's Bazar camp. There are almost one million people living in Bangladesh's Rohingya refugee camps. If we get justice, we shall go back to Myanmar as soon as possible. BBC Worklife: The professional stakes of using profanity, Eurovision winner says contest is history for him. A fire swept through a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, leaving multiple people dead and hundreds more injured. The coronavirus pandemic reached Bangladesh's Rohingya refugee camps a month ago, raising alarm it … "They are given proper food and access to all facilities.". Sitting in her makeshift house of bamboo and plastic, with a white head scarf draped over her head and shoulders, Khatun described how her family fled from their homeland of Myanmar in 2017 after the military attacked her village in Maungdaw and burnt down her house. Back aboard the Navy vessel after the commodore's tour, it was another three-hour rough ride back to the mainland. He said that many Malaysian men want to marry Rohingya women," Khatun said. It doesn't matter how beautiful the infrastructure is, Rohingya feel connected to their roots in Myanmar while staying in Cox's Bazar.". Asia In Rohingya refugee camps, coronavirus is under control — for now. The more than 911,000 Rohingya refugees in the Bangladesh camp outnumber the number of residents in my city, Vientiane. Bangladesh ‘set to move’ new group of Rohingya to remote island, Bangladesh moves nearly 2,000 Rohingya refugees to remote island, Bangladesh begins moving second group of Rohingya to Bhashan Char, In Pictures: In show of unity, Palestinians go on strike, In Pictures: Under a tree, an Indian village cares for COVID sick, In Pictures: Funerals and destruction as Israeli attacks continue, In Pictures: World rallies in solidarity with Palestinians, Why India’s Hindu nationalists are backing Israel on Gaza bombing, Israel’s barrage of air strikes resumes, toppling buildings: Live, Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu’s war on Palestine, Biden expresses support for Gaza ceasefire amid mounting pressure, Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. It was the last time she spoke to her daughter. Video, 'Nervous, but excited' young Americans get the jab, Ariana Grande gets married in 'intimate' ceremony, Global ban on gas boilers from 2025 proposed, Darwin's Arch in Galapagos Islands collapses, Migrants reach Spanish enclave in record numbers, 20 firms make half of all one-use plastic - study, Amazon wants to buy MGM Studios for $9bn - reports, The woman who unseated a prime minister of 20 years. Video, Russia spy chief suggests West behind cyber-attack, 'Nervous, but excited' young Americans get the jab. Bangladesh experiences an average of more than one cyclonic storm every year, and the BBC's own internal weather experts said the likelihood of Bhasan Char being affected in the future was high, and that the topography and low-lying ground meant such storms could cause major flooding both from excessive rainfall and coastal storm surges. The report contained allegations of cramped and unhygienic living conditions, limited food and healthcare facilities, a lack of phones in order for refugees to be able to contact their families, as well as cases of sexual harassment by both the Navy and local labourers engaging in extortion. For the past three years, the authorities have been building a new town, at a cost of $350m (£270m). Rohingya refugees in the camps said many houses were destroyed. But contrary to Chowdury's claim, there is evidence to suggest two cyclones did in fact track right across or very close to Bhasan Char in 1991 and 1997. Extreme violence and persecution have forced people from their homes in Myanmar into cramped living conditions in Cox's Bazar. But for many Rohingya, Bhasan Char is closer to a prison than a refuge. "We are taking care of them as our guests," he said. Producer: Claire Press, What you need to know about the Rohingya crisis, 'The bodies were thrown out of the boat in the night', Starving refugees rescued from boat off Bangladesh, Strikes and rockets resume amid ceasefire pressure. Nearly one million people live in the camps at … Rohingya refugees: From crowded camps to isolated island Al Jazeera travels with Rohingya to flood-prone Bhashan Char island where Bangladesh wants to move about 100,000 refugees. Since 2017, the refugees have been crowded into camps with poor conditions. Should encryption be curbed to combat child abuse? The UN called it a "textbook ethnic cleansing". It is in Ukhia, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, inhabited mostly by Rohingya refugees that fled from ethnic and religious persecution in neighboring Myanmar. The most important thing is education. Back in Cox's Bazar, Khatun received a call from an unknown number. Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has frequently defended her government's plans, urging the international community to understand that, with over a million refugees living in Cox's Bazar, the escalation in violence as well as both drug and human trafficking shows the camps are no longer safe nor sustainable. After three hours' travel aboard a Navy vessel, the small band of journalists were met by Commodore Abdullah al Mamum Chowdhury before being escorted around the newly finished site. Faruque Mohammed in Kutupalong camp, Cox's Bazar. Read about our approach to external linking. "I want my son and daughter back here," she said. After 10 days at sea, Khatun's children - who we have not named to protect their safety - made it within sight of the Malaysian coast. Overhead, installed on every house and every corner, security cameras kept watch. 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