Human Rights Watch interviewed 167 refugees, stating that they were transferred “without full informed consent” and prevented from returning to the mainland.

According to Human Rights Watch, Rohingya refugees moved to an island in Bangladesh. They are worried that they will face a harsh environment during the upcoming monsoon season and are struggling with “insufficient” health and education facilities. report Say.

Approximately 18,800 refugees have moved from the Cox’s Bazar region (approximately 850,000 people living in squalid and cramped environments after fleeing Myanmar) to Basanchar, a low-lying silt island in the Bay of Bengal.

A spokesperson for the prime minister’s office told AFP that another 80,000 Rohingya will soon be transferred to the island.

The Bangladesh government insists that the relocation is voluntary, the island is not affected by the hurricane, and its facilities are far superior to the Cox’s Bazar camp.

However, after interviewing 167 refugees, Human Rights Watch stated that they were moved “without full and informed consent” and prevented from returning to the mainland.

The 58-page report said that refugees also talked about the shortage of medical facilities and children’s education.

Others worry that the monsoon season starting in June will expose them to strong winds and floods on the island.

Human Rights Watch acknowledged that Dhaka was “generous and compassionate” in sheltering Rohingya—many of whom fled Myanmar after the brutal military crackdown in 2017—but their rights should be protected.

Rohingya refugees resettled to disputed flood-prone islands [File: Rehman Asad/AFP]

“The Bangladeshi government found it difficult to deal with more than one million Rohingya refugees, but forcing people to travel to remote islands would only create new problems,” Bill Frelick, director of immigration and refugee rights at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

“International donors should help the Rohingya, but they also insist that Bangladesh repatriate refugees who want to return to the mainland, or if experts believe the island conditions are too dangerous or unsustainable.”

Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen fired back at the report, telling AFP that “no matter what resources we have, we are trying to provide the best service to these people”.

“Their country is very developed… If they have so much compassion, let them take them back to their country,” Mormon said of the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

“I am sorry that we cannot have better facilities because we are not a rich country. We cannot provide more.”

On Friday, a ship carrying dozens of Rohingyas landed off the coast of Indonesia after a journey of several months-the latest wave of arrivals from the crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi police also arrested Rohingya who tried to flee Bhashan Char, and during a visit to the UN refugee agency last week, thousands of people protested the conditions on the island.