Letter to Editor: Rohingya refugees relocated to ‘de facto prison island’

In August, a tragic milestone — 3 years after the start of world’s latest genocide — and there has been little improvement for Rohingya survivors. And this week, another crisis — Bangladesh has started relocating refugees to a controversial island, Bhasan Char, which Human Rights Watch called a ‘de facto prison island’. Bangladesh has repeatedly tried to move refugees to the island in the past and has stopped after outcry from rights groups, aid organizations including UN and Rohingya themselves. There has been no transparency with this recent action and Bangladesh has not addressed any of the issues with inhabiting the island: vulnerability to cyclones, lack of access to health care, isolation from activity and opportunity, etc. Additionally, it puts refugees farther away from repatriating back to their homes in Myanmar.

We must object harder and louder to this inhumane act.