As the number of Rohingyas rise in Bangladesh, the South Asian country is planning to relocate them to a remote uninhabitable island. Observers say the move will send a wrong signal to the authorities in Myanmar.
Image: Reuters/M. P. Hossain
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More Rohingya Muslims seek refuge in Bangladesh
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More than 69,000 Rohingyas have entered Bangladesh from Myanmar since a military crackdown on the minority Muslim group began in October last year. Human rights groups say security forces and Buddhist extremists have torched Rohingya homes, raped their women and killed hundreds of people since unidentified gunmen killed nine border guards in Myanmar last year.
A recent UN report accused Myanmar's security forces of carrying out horrific acts of brutality against the Muslim minority. The country's de facto leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Sui Kyi, has vowed to investigate the allegations.
In total, there are more than 400,000 Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers in Bangladesh; most of them are living in overcrowded makeshift camps in the southern coastal district of Cox's Bazar. Bangladeshi authorities have already turned away hundreds of Rohingyas claiming it is impossible to accommodate all of them in the country.
The government now wants to relocate them to a remote and almost uninhabitable island, Thengar Char.
'The island is very far from the mainland'Image: Reuters/M. P. Hossain
Uninhabitable and prone to natural disasters
The relocation plan has been heavily criticized by human rights groups and the United Nations. CR Abrar, chief coordinator for the Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit (RMMRU), a non-governmental organization working on the Rohingya issues, says the island is not inhabitable at the moment.
"The island is very far from the mainland. There won't be many opportunities available to the refugees to have a livelihood," Abrar told DW. "The island is prone to flooding and cyclones. It is a very remote area, so the pirates frequently raid it,'' he added.
Khandakar Rezaul Karim, a government official who recently visited Thengar Char, confirmed to DW that at the moment nobody lives on the island.
"The island can only be reached by boat. A large part of it remains submerged during the monsoon season. No construction work has ever been taken place on the island,'' Karim underlined.
Bangladesh's Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali acknowledged that a lot of work needs to be done to make the island livable. "The government plans to build necessary infrastructure, including shelter, schools, hospitals, mosques and roads, to make the island habitable,'' Ali said in a statement on Sunday.
Rights groups have been pressing Myanmar to ensure safety for the Rohingya community Image: Getty Images/AFP/B. Ismoyo
Ali called on the international community to assist the Bangladeshi government in developing the island. ''The relocation will take place only after the development activities are completed,'' he emphasized.
A 'wrong signal'
Rohingya Muslims have remained a stateless ethnic minority for decades. The Myanmar government considers them illegal Bengali migrants. They are not allowed to apply for the country's citizenship. The authorities say it is Dhaka's responsibility to look after them.
Abrar points out that relocating Rohingyas to an island would send a wrong signal to the authorities in Myanmar. "They might think that Bangladesh has agreed to accept the Rohingyas permanently as they are shifting them to an island far from their borders. As a result, Myanmar won't feel obliged to take back the refugees."
Bangladesh's foreign minister told media that the relocation of the Rohingya people is temporary, and that the government will continue its effort to repatriate them to Myanmar.
But Abrar is not very hopeful that the Rohingyas in Bangladesh could be sent back any time soon. "Rohingyas have fled their land due to the fear of persecution, and this is not an imaginary fear. Myanmar must grant citizenship to Rohingyas and ensure their safety in Rakhine state so that they can live with dignity,'' he said.
Trafficked and abandoned - the Rohingya exodus
Boats carrying more than 1,600 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants washed to shore in Indonesia and Malaysia, after human traffickers reportedly dumped the boats in shallow waters. DW takes a look at the refugees' ordeal.
Image: Reuters/R: Bintang
Stranded
On Sunday, May 10, a group of about 600 people arrived in the Indonesian province of Aceh on four boats. At about the same time more than 1,000 others landed in three boats on the northern Malaysian resort island of Langkawi. At least two of these overcrowded boats were towed by local fishermen to the shores. Those rescued were rounded up by the police.
Image: Reuters/R. Bintang
Exhausted
Human traffickers apparently abandoned the ships - which also carried women and children - and left the hungry migrants to fend for themselves. Indonesian authorities and aid agencies believe the rescued group had been at sea for about a week. Many were in need of medical care. The authorities warn more desperate migrants could still be in peril at sea.
Image: Reuters/R: Bintang
A perilous journey
Every year thousands of impoverished Bangladeshis and Muslim Rohingya from Buddhist-majority Myanmar brave perilous land and sea routes in rickety traffickers' boats similar to this one in a desperate attempt to reach Malaysia and Indonesia. UNHCR estimates that some 25,000 Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis boarded people smugglers' boats in the first three months of this year.
Image: Asiapics
Stateless
Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. Most of them are not citizens and outbreaks of sectarian violence have prompted many to flee. "An entire population feels their only option is to seek asylum by sea," Matthew Smith of Fortify Rights told DW. The figure of Rohingya trafficked in Thailand since 2012 could be as high as a quarter million.
Image: Reuters/R: Bintang
Modern slave trade
Seeking to flee discrimination, the Rohingya usually contact a broker who deceives them to think they will be taken directly to Malaysia for the equivalent of up to $200, says Smith. Throughout the journey they're denied adequate food, water, and space, and subjected to beatings, and sometimes killings. The boats travel to Thai waters where they are transported to a makeshift jungle camp onshore.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/S. Yulinnas
Fear of Thailand
Many Rohingya are forced to cross Thailand using vehicles run by smugglers, who hold them in captivity in squalid jungle camps until a ransom is paid by their family back home. However, following the Thai government's recent crackdown on human trafficking, after the discovery of several mass graves (seen here), many smugglers have taken new measures, putting the migrants' lives at greater risk.
Image: Reuters/D. Sagolj
Abandoned
As a result of the crackdown by Thai authorities, Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees were found wandering around in southern Thailand near suspected jungle camps, apparently after they were abandoned by the smugglers who fled. The authorities have questioned more than 100 migrants near the country's border with Malaysia to determine whether they were victims of human trafficking.
Image: AFP/Getty Images/Str
A wave of migrants
Southeast Asia is being hit by a wave of migrants, partly driven by conflict, persecution and poverty. The Asia-Pacific region recently recorded an estimated 11.7 million trafficked people, the highest figure of any region. The Greater-Mekong Sub-region encompassing Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam features some of the most extensive flows of migration and human trafficking.
