National Taskforce for strict steps to establish order at Rohingya camps

The National Taskforce on the Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs) has advised the law enforcement agencies to take strict measures to establish order inside the Rohingya camps to dispel criminal activities there.

The task force's recommendations that came in its 32nd meeting have been obtained by the Business Insider Bangladesh.

Besides, to ensure proper supply of food to Bhasan Char Island where some refugees have been relocated, the Refugee, Relief, and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC), in collaboration with NGO Affairs Bureau, would take charge until the commencement of UN's operations, officials said.

The National Taskforce Chairman, Ambassador and foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen said he was glad to see some suspects in the murder of Rohingya high profile figure Mohibullah on September 29 were arrested.

Masud said during his recent visit to Cox's Bazar, he had met with the bereaved family members and close associates of Mohibullah and the members of government agencies working on the ground.

The coordinator of the inter-sector coordination group (ISCG) opined that the FDMNs are incessantly receiving threats from the miscreants and while the law enforcers are trying to countervail.

The two major issues discussed by the National Taskforce on the Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals are as follows:

Briefing to RRRC on overall camp situation:
A few suspects were already arrested and one of them had already given a confessional statement before the court over Rohingya leader Mohibullah slain case. The Covid-19 vaccination was over and that the oral vaccination of Cholera had been rolled out among the FDMNs. The joint registration of newborn babies and residual FDMNs were going on in collaboration with UNHCR. The Deputy Commissioner of Cox's Bazar emphasised on taking early preparation for tackling the impacts of cyclone at the camps and adjacent areas. He also highlighted enhancing firefighting capacity across the camps.

Bhasan Char:

The RRRC representative indicated that the relocation of the FDMNs from Cox's Bazar to Bhasan Char might resume next month as an additional livelihood program would be introduced in Bhasan Char from November 2021. A couple of 25-bedded hospitals would be fully functional by then.

The RRRC was informed that as different authorities are involved in the process of supporting the Bhasan Char facility, it would take around four months to complete the work. Meanwhile, RRRC requested UNHCR and WFP to build some shades for keeping their goods and equipment well protected.

The Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MODMR) and other agencies will start working out a mechanism to FDMNs voluntary relocation and their movement from and to Bhasan Char-- as observed by the UN referring to the MOU signed with the government. Connecting-road and other infrastructural arrangements to operationalise the Noakhali-Chairman Ghat- Bhasan Char would be completed expeditiously.

More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees have arrived from Myanmar's Rakhine State in Bangladesh’s south-eastern districts since August 2017. They've joined hundreds of thousands who were already living in refugee camps or with local communities. Some 600 000 refugees are squashed into 36 camps an area far too small to accommodate their numbers. More than half of them are women and girls and 60 percent are children under 18, statistics show.

A total of 18,500 Rohingya refugees have been relocated to in Bhashan Char. The government has claimed the capacity of the island shelter homes to be around 1,00000.

The government is now constructing a five-star hotel and three more buildings in Bhasan Char to accommodate UN representatives, officials said.