UN team visits remote Bangladesh island where Rohingya relocated

Delegation on three-day visit to Bhasan Char island in Bay of Bengal where Bangladesh moved more than 13,000 refugees.

A United Nations delegation is on a three-day visit starting Wednesday to a remote Bay of Bengal island where Bangladesh has moved more than 13,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees since December despite criticism from rights groups. Bangladesh wants to eventually transfer 100,000 of the more than a million refugees living in overcrowded border camps to Bhasan Char island, which emerged from the sea only two decades ago and is considered vulnerable to floods. “This initial three-day visit will bring together experts from UN agencies engaged in the Rohingya refugee response in Bangladesh,” the UN refugee agency told Reuters in an email.