The government has formed a high-powered executive committee with respect to the planned relocation of nearly 100,000 Rohingyas to Bhashan Char from the congested camps in Cox's Bazar, multiple sources told Dhaka Tribune on Monday.
Bhashan Char is a remote island under Noakhali district in an estuary of the Meghna River.
Headed by Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Kaikaus, the committee is responsible to oversee the overall aspects of the relocation process, they said.
The committee has been formed recently in a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), they added.
"Yes, such a committee was constituted," confirmed Md Mohsin, secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, the line ministry as regards to the Rohingya crisis.
"The committee comprises a number of secretaries and representatives from different ministries, departments and agencies," he told this correspondent without specifying the number of the members of the newly formed body.
Also Read - 40 Rohingya leaders visit Bhasan Char to see rehabilitation facilities
"I cannot tell you the number without looking at the papers. But, it's a large committee," Mohsin said.
"Yes, I am one of the members of that committee," he said in reply to a question.
About the tasks of the body, Mohsin said: "It will look into every aspect of the relocation process."
"The committee has already started working," he said.
The latest move appears to be yet another sign of the government's resolve to relocate nearly 100,000 Rohingyas in order to decongest the overcrowded camps in Cox's Bazar.
The government has been trying for a while to go ahead with the relocation to Bhashan Char, which is being developed at the cost of thousands of crores of taka.
On September 5, a total of 40 Rohingya leaders from Cox's Bazar camps visited Bhasan Char by a Navy vessel through Chittagong to see facilities over there.
