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WORLD NEWS Saturday 5 december 2020

First Rohingya refugees arrive at isolated Bangladesh island

By JULHAS ALAM overwhelm the island and
Associated Press endanger thousands of
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) lives. The U.N. said in a
— Authorities in Bangla- statement Wednesday that
desh on Friday sent the first it has not been involved in
group of more than 1,500 preparations for the relo-
Rohingya refugees to an cation or the selection of
isolated island despite calls refugees and has limited in-
by human rights groups for formation about the overall
a halt to the process. plan. \“The United Nations
The 1,642 refugees board- takes this opportunity to
ed seven Bangladeshi na- highlight its longstanding
val vessels in the port of position that Rohingya refu-
Chittagong for the trip to gees must be able to make
Bhashan Char, according a free and informed deci-
to an official who could not sion about relocating to
be named in accordance Bhasan Char based upon
with local practice. relevant, accurate and up-
After about a three-hour dated information,” it said.
trip they arrived at the is- Amnesty International and
land, which was once Human Rights Watch on
regularly submerged by Rohingya refugees are transported on a naval vessel to Bhashan Char, or floating island, in the Thursday urged the govern-
monsoon rains but now has Bay of Bengal, from Chittagong, Bangladesh, Friday, Dec. 4, 2020. ment to cancel the reloca-
flood protection embank- Associated Press tion plan.
ments, houses, hospitals 100,000 people, just a frac- He said he expects that on the Muslim group fol- The current refugee camps
and mosques built at a cost tion of the million Rohing- the U.N. and others would lowing an attack by insur- near the town of Cox’s Ba-
of more than $112 million ya Muslims who have fled be convinced about the gents. The crackdown in- zar are overcrowded and
by the Bangladesh navy. waves of violent persecu- overall arrangements after cluded rapes, killings and unhygienic. Disease and
Located 21 miles (34 kilo- tion in their native Myan- visiting the island. Asked the torching of thousands organized crime are ram-
meters) from the mainland, mar and are currently living when that would be, he of homes, and was termed pant. Education is limited
the island surfaced only 20 in crowded, squalid refu- answered that the govern- ethnic cleansing by global and refugees are not al-
years ago and was never gee camps in Cox’s Bazar ment is working on it. rights groups and the U.N. lowed to work.
inhabited. district. On Thursday, 11 passenger Foreign media have not Still, most Rohingya are un-
Saleh Noman, a Bangla- The United Nations has buses carrying the refugees been permitted to visit the willing to return to Myan-
deshi journalist who trav- voiced concern that refu- left Cox’s Bazar on the way island. mar due to safety con-
eled with the refugees, said gees be allowed to make to the island. They camped Contractors say its infra- cerns. Government officials
by phone from the island a “free and informed deci- overnight in school build- structure is like a modern didn’t have an estimate of
that the refugees were giv- sion” about whether to re- ings in the southeastern city township, with multifamily how many refugees would
en rice, eggs and chickens locate to the island in the of Chittagong. concrete homes, schools, be willing to be relocated
for lunch after their body Bay of Bengal. Authorities in Cox’s Bazar playgrounds and roads. It to the island.
temperatures were mea- The director of infrastruc- did not say how the refu- also has solar-power facili- Prime Minister Sheikh Ha-
sured by health workers as ture development on Bha- gees were selected for re- ties, a water supply system sina has repeatedly told
a coronavirus precaution. shan Char, Commodore location. and cyclone shelters. the U.N. and other interna-
Before they boarded the Abdullah Al Mamun Chow- About 700,000 Rohingya International aid agencies tional partners that her ad-
ships they were also giv- dhury, told reporters on the fled to the camps in Cox’s and the U.N. have vehe- ministration would consult
en face masks to protect island that the international Bazar after August 2017, mently opposed the relo- them before making a final
against COVID-19. community has nothing to when the military in Bud- cation since it was first pro- decision on the relocation,
The island’s facilities are worry about regarding the dhist-majority Myanmar posed in 2015, expressing and that no refugees would
built to accommodate safety of the refugees. began a harsh crackdown fear that a big storm could be forced to move.q
Hundreds of Ethiopian immigrants get warm welcome in Israel

By SEBASTIAN SCHEINER Many were dressed in tradi- Ethiopian-born Cabinet
Associated Press tional Ethiopian robes, and minister, traveled to Ethio-
BEN-GURION INTERNATION- many women held babies pia to join them on the
AL AIRPORT, Israel (AP) — in their arms. Festive He- flight.
Hundreds of Ethiopian im- brew songs were blasted Community activists have
migrants arrived on Thurs- over loudspeakers. accused the government
day to a festive ceremony Although the families are of of dragging its feet in im-
at Israel’s international air- Jewish descent and many plementing a 2015 decision
port, as the government are practicing Jews, Israel to bring all remaining Ethio-
took a step toward carry- does not consider them pians of Jewish lineage to
ing out its pledge to reunite Jewish under religious law. Israel within five years.
hundreds of families split Instead, they were permit- Netanyahu’s Likud party re-
between the two countries. ted to enter the country peated that pledge before
Some 300 people landed under a family-unification national elections early this
on the Ethiopian Airlines program that requires spe- year.
flight, with many waving cial government approval. “Once again, the govern- Ethiopian immigrants arrive at the Ben Gurion airport near Tel
flags or stopping to kiss the A large delegation of Is- ment led by Prime Minister Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020.
ground as they streamed raeli officials welcomed the Netanyahu has decided to Associated Press
off the aircraft onto a red group, and Pnina Tamano- place quotas on the immi- pia,” said Muket Fenta, an ing for over a decade to
carpet. Shata, the country’s first gration of Jews from Ethio- activist who has been fight- bring his aunt to Israel.q