findings iI: enforcing restrictions on movement
40
Enforcement: Forced Relocation
Respondents reported official warnings from camp
authorities stating that those who violate camp rules will
be forcibly relocated to Bhasan Char Island Camp. Bhasan
Char is a small, remote island in the Bay of Bengal where
Bangladesh authorities have constructed a refugee camp
that has been described as an “island jail” by Human
Rights Watch.67 The island faces a high risk of floods and
severe storms, and Rohingya there experience the same
restrictions and lack of services as the mainland camps,
while being further isolated from mainland society.
Many respondents felt that the police have a quota
for relocating people to Bhasan Char Island that
they need to fulfil, which is why they use coercive
tactics to compel people to “agree” to relocate. These tactics include many of the practices described above–increasing persecution by police and other authorities in the camps by enforcing
punishments for breaking camp rules, punishments for voicing complaints over camp conditions,
framing innocent people for crimes they have not committed, and promising freedom from
unjust imprisonment if they agree to be relocated to Bhasan Char. The police will also extort
money from people by threatening to relocate them to Bhasan Char if the bribes are not paid.
“I feel like the police are here to torture us,” said Mohammed, a 28-year-old Rohingya man. “The way
they are extorting money from us is like this is their duty to torture us. It is said to the world that they are
here to preserve our security, but they are actually torturing us in reality. If we can’t pay the amount of
money they demand, they often threaten us that we would be relocated to Bhasan Char Island.” 68
“I feel like the police are here
to torture us,” said Mohammed,
a 28-year-old Rohingya man.
“The way they are extorting
money from us is like this is
their duty to torture us.
67
68
Human Rights Watch. An Island Jail in the Middle of the Sea: Bangladesh’s Relocation of Rohingya
Refugees to Bhasan Char. 2021.
Interview C13M