UNHCR officials to visit Bhashan Char

Two senior officials of UNHCR will visit Bhashan Char's Rohingya housing facility today.

UN officials Gillian Triggs and Raouf Mazou -- assistant High Commissioner for Protection and Operations respectively -- from the UN Refugee Agency will visit the 100,000 capacity housing facility constructed by the Bangladesh Navy, on the second day of their four-day visit to Bangladesh.

"They will visit Bhashan Char for a few hours and then go to the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar," a UN official told The Daily Star yesterday.

The officials from the headquarters annually visit the major refugee operations and this visit is part of thay, the official said. They will see for themselves if there are any innovations required in terms of protection and operations of the refugee camps, the official added.

The visit comes at a time when the Bangladeshi government is eagerly seeking UN involvement in the Bhashan Char project, where some 20,000 Rohingyas have already been relocated from Cox's Bazar camps, since December last year. The humanitarian operations at Bhashan Char are mostly being run by local NGOs now.

The UN, in the latest Joint Response Plan, has made no clear mention of funding the humanitarian assistance at Bhashan Char, though a UN team made positive observations about the project.

The UN team, however, recommended completing the embankment around the Bhashan Char project, and the availability of education and livelihood options for the Rohingyas. It also said the UN was in dialogue with the government on how to engage in the project.The two high officials of the UNHCR will also visit Cox's Bazar, meet UN officials engaged in operations in the Rohingya camps, and hold a meeting with foreign ministry officials.