Mizan, 35, who lives on the island with her two daughters, Saker, 9, and Nur Bibi, 7, said
that at the education her daughters are receiving on the island is actually less than what
they were getting in the camps:
My two daughters used to go to the learning centers run by IOM
[International Organization for Migration] for two years. We have been here
now for almost six months and my daughters brought all their belongings,
bags, and books, to continue studying here, but there aren’t even learning
centers here, my daughters cannot continue their education. 120
Parents expressed concern that their children have missed years of education. “I could not
complete my study back in Rakhine State because Myanmar authorities did not allow us to
go for further education after completing standard 10,” Bosor said. “Here in Bangladesh I
am seeing the same fate for my sons.” 121
Lack of Adequate Health Care
Accounts from aid workers and refugees indicates that healthcare facilities and capacity
on the island are inadequate to ensure refugees’ right to health and the right to life. 122
Human Rights Watch interviewed 14 people who sought medical care on the island, all of
whom said they experienced inadequate care. In four cases, when following up with the
families, we learned that the patients later died. In each of these cases the families
believed their relative’s death was due to grossly inadequate emergency medical care on
the island.
120 Human Rights Watch interview with Mizan, Bhasan Char, Bangladesh, May 6, 2021.
121 Human Rights Watch interview with Bosor, Bhasan Char, Bangladesh, May 10, 2021.
122 See ICESCR, article 12 (right to the highest attainable standard of health); International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR) G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered
into force March 23, 1976, article 6 (right to life). UN Human Rights Committee, General comment no. 36, Article 6 (Right to
Life), 3 September 2019, CCPR/C/GC/35, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5e5e75e04.html (accessed May 20,
2021) states in para. 25: “A heightened duty to protect the right to life also applies to individuals quartered in liberty
restricting State-run facilities, such as mental health facilities, military camps, refugee camps and camps for internally
displaced persons, juvenile institutions and orphanages.”
“AN ISLAND JAIL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEA”
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