Those who are opposing the relocation of Rohingyas to Bhasan Char will be liable for any casualties in Cox’s Bazar camps during the upcoming monsoon season, warned Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen.

“If any Rohingyas lose their lives during any natural disasters in Cox’s Bazar, the western countries who are opposing their relocation to Bhasan Char will have to take responsibility for it,” he told the media on Thursday (Apr 25) after meeting with three top officials of the United Nations (UN).

Dr Momen said that he conveyed this message to the visiting UN officials.

Heads of three UN agencies -- Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Vitorino, Director General of International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Mark Lowcock, Head of United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Emergency Relief Coordinator -- jointly met the Foreign Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The minister also said, “We told them we want to shift some of the Rohingyas to Bhashan Char as there are risks of landslides during the upcoming monsoon.”

He, however, added that we will only take those are willing to go there.

“We have spent 2500 crore from our own fund to prepare residence for the Rohingyas. If they go there, they will be able to do some work like fishing and maintaining livestock,” he said.

On Wednesday, the UN officials met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam.

Bangladeshi officials informed them that the relocation of Rohingya people to Bhasan Char Island will help address the congestion in Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camps.

The visiting UN officials are scheduled to visit Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camps on Thursday and Friday.