After weeks at sea, Rohingya refugees sent to flood-prone island in Bangladesh

The 28 refugees are among hundreds of minority Rohingya Muslims who have tried to travel by sea to Malaysia via Thailand

Bangladesh has constructed facilities for 100,000 Rohingya on a muddy island, and refugees are quarantined in case of Covid-19 infection

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Rohingya refugees stranded at sea are seen on a boat near the coast of Cox's Bazar. Dozens of Rohingya Muslims believed to have been on two boats were stranded at sea for weeks as they tried to reach Malaysia. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:54pm, 4 May 2020Updated: 3:57pm, 4 May 2020

About 28 Rohingya refugees stranded at sea for weeks have been relocated to a controversial flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh officials said on Sunday.

Bangladesh last year constructed facilities for 100,000 people on Bhashan Char, a muddy silt islet in the cyclone-prone coastal belt, saying they needed to take pressure off crowded border camps that are home to almost a million minority Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.

The Rohingya were taken to the island late on Saturday instead of the camps as authorities were afraid they might be infected with the coronavirus, Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen said.

A drawing by a surviving Rohingya refugee child depicting his two months at sea on a wooden trawler en route to Malaysia. Photo: Reuters

“Most likely they will stay there until they return to Myanmar,” he said.

They are the first group of Rohingya to be sent to the island, local government administrator Tanmoy Das said, adding they were being looked after by navy personnel who had built the facilities.