Bangladesh has started moving a second group of Rohingya refugees to a controversial flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal despite opposition from rights activists.
More than 1,600 of the Muslim minority from Myanmar were taken to Bhashan Char earlier this month, and Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said just under 1,000 are in the latest group heading for what he called a \u201cbeautiful resort\u201d.
Buses took the Rohingya from camps in Cox\u2019s Bazar, where nearly one million refugees have sought shelter from violence in their native Myanmar, to Chittagong port where they will be taken to the barren island.
\u201cThey are going voluntarily. They are very eager to go to Bhashan Char because they have heard from their relatives, those who have gone to Bhashan Char, that (it) is an excellent place,\u201d Momen told AFP on Monday.
He claimed the island was \u201c100 times better\u201d than the camps, and that the refugees had \u201cappealed\u201d to be taken there.
\u201cBhashan Char is a beautiful resort. It is an excellent resort. And once anybody goes there, they will love it,\u201d the minister added.
Two Rohingya men in the latest group told AFP they were going to the island willingly.
Nur Kamal, a Rohingya from the giant Kutupalang refugee camp, said he was going to be with relatives already at Bhashan Char: \u201cWhat is the point of staying here (in the camps) without them?\u201d
Serajul Islam said he was going voluntarily, along with five family members.
\u201cThe way the international community is handling our issue, I don\u2019t see any future in the camps,\u201d he told AFP from the bus taking him to Chittagong.
\u201cIt is better I go and live the rest of my life there, in better housing. At least I won\u2019t have to think about floods during the rainy season and unbearable heat in the summer.\u201d
More than 700,000 Rohingya took shelter in the camps in Bangladesh in 2017 after a deadly clampdown by Myanmar\u2019s military that the United Nations has said could be genocide.
After the first transfer on December 4, several Rohingya told AFP they had been beaten and intimidated to agree to move.
The Bangladesh government eventually wants to put 100,000 Rohingya on the 13,000-acre (56sq km) island, despite criticism from rights groups because of Bhashan Char\u2019s isolation.
The UN said it has not been involved in the process.
\u201cAllegations from within the community about cash incentives being offered to Rohingya families to relocate to Bhashan Char as well as use of intimidation tactics are making the relocation process questionable,\u201d said Amnesty International\u2019s South Asia campaigner Saad Hammadi.
Foreign minister Momen said critics of the policy were \u201cmaking up stories\u201d.
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