UNHCR seeks adequate medical aid for Rohingyas in Bhasan Char

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, on Monday said the safety and wellbeing of Rohingyas are their main priority.

The UN agency noted they will continue to urgently seek additional information on the condition of those affected, and urged that they receive adequate medical assistance.

UNHCR said they are “deeply concerned” to learn of reports on Rohingyas who were injured during today’s events at Bhasan Char.

“We regret that those affected reportedly include children and women,” Louise Donovan, a spokesperson at the UNHCR, Cox’s Bazar, said in a statement, reports UNB.

Rohingays in Bhasan Char went unruly when two senior UN officials — Gillian Triggs, the Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and Raouf Mazou, Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, were visiting it.

During Monday’s visit, the UNHCR delegation was able to meet with a large group of refugees and listen to the various issues that they raised, which the delegation will further discuss with the Bangladesh authorities, said the UNHCR spokesperson.

The delegation now arrived in Cox’s Bazar and is scheduled to visit Rohingya camps there on Tuesday before returning to Dhaka to meet senior government officials.

The two UNHCR officials arrived in Dhaka on Sunday on a four-day visit to see the Rohingya situation both in Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camps and Bhasan Char.

Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char. Bangladesh is expecting UN agencies engagement in Bhasan Char within the next couple of months to provide humanitarian services there.

The government has a plan to shift 100,000 Rohingyas in Bhasan Char gradually while around 20,000 are already shifted there.

During his recent visit, United Nations General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir highly appreciated Bangladesh’s efforts for Rohingyas in Bhashan Char, saying it will be another example to the world on how to deal with the refugee issues.

“I really applaud the work done there – the quality of buildings and also taking all the precautions. I think this will be another example to the world on how to deal with refugee issues,” he said.

Bozkir hoped that this would work well for the Rohingya people, giving them a better condition in Bhashan Char.

The UNGA president said he could not visit Bhasan Char but he saw a video on it and acknowledged the high-level of works there, including precautions and safety measures.

Bozkir appreciated Bangladesh’s role in the peacekeeping operations and sacrifices of the Bangladeshi peacekeepers for the peace and security of the world.

The UNGA president said he has admiration for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her political and humanitarian thinking and saluted the hospitality and courage that Bangladesh has shown to the Rohingya people.