Arakan News Agency
The plan has been made public amidst recent reports on thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants stranded on boats between the Andaman Sea and the Straits of Malacca.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had ordered officials to shift the camps to a ‘suitable’ place six months ago.
She had also spoken about the problem of housing the refugees in such small places.
Government officials say Hatia has been chosen as the ‘suitable’ place.
“The government wanted to know if big, suitable spaces were available. We proposed a 500-acre shoal area at Hatia,” Noakhali Deputy Commissioner Badre Munir Firdaous told bdnews24.com on Wednesday.
DC Firdaous, however, did not say how and when the plan will be implemented.
Cox’s Bazaar Deputy Commissioner Ali Hossain said, “I am new here. I am yet to take a look at the matter. As far as I know, they’ll be shifted to some place at Hatia in Noakhali.”
He also said the Noakhali DC was overseeing the issue of acquiring land needed for the relocation.
The refugee camps in Cox’s Bazaar are at Khutuppalang and Nayaparha. They have 34,000 registered Rohingyas but the government says Bangladesh has over 500,000 Rohingyas.
Source: Bdnews24
