Bangladesh will send more Rohingya to remote island

Subject

Bangladesh's management of Rohingya refugees amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Significance

Hundreds of Rohingya recently rescued from stranded boats are in COVID-19 quarantine on Bhasan Char, a remote island where Bangladesh has long wanted to relocate some of the Rohingya refugees currently housed in Cox’s Bazar district’s overcrowded camps. Dhaka earlier this year appeared to backtrack on the relocation plan, but camp management in Cox’s Bazar is coming under renewed pressure because of an outbreak of COVID-19 among refugees there.

Impacts

• Authorities will struggle to enforce social distancing in the Cox’s Bazar camps.
• Despite curbs on movement in and out of the camps, Rohingya could clash with Cox’s Bazar locals as anxieties over COVID-19 grow.
• Dhaka will try to procure more aid money from international organisations to help deal with the refugee crisis.