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Bhasan Char Inter-Agency Update (Issue 20: 1-15 September 2022)

Attachments

Highlights

  • 3,000 dignity kits were procured for distribution to vulnerable women and girls of reproductive age (15-49 years) on Bhasan Char.

  • 246 children below the age of two years (116 girls) received vaccination against various antigens, with the total number of children vaccinated now reaching 2,495 to date.

  • New and renovated health care facilities (in-patient department, operating theatre and an emergency unit) were inaugurated at Noakhali Sadar Hospital to facilitate the referral service from Bhasan Char.

Key figures

26,043* Total number of refugees

6,633* Total number of households

80% of total population are women and children

6% of total population with at least one specific need

* According to the latest registration and verification exercise conducted on Bhasan Char (as of 31 August 2022). As registration of July arrivals is ongoing, government figures might slightly differ.

Bhasan Char response

The sectors are working to enrol children in schools, empower women and girls through information session on GBV, improve access to health services, provide livelihood opportunities, and work with authorities to improve the living condition for refugees. 36 partners working on the island continue to face limitations due to lack of human resource and funding to scale up response. Total financial ask for the Bhasan Char chapter of the 2022 Joint Response Plan is USD 99.7 million to provide protection and assistance to Rohingya refugees.

Visits

A joint field visit of UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, Gwyn Lewis, UN World Food Programme Country Director, Domenico Scalpelli, and WHO Head of Sub-Office in Cox Bazar, Jorge Martinez, took place on Bhasan Char from 14 to 15 September, to observe inter-agency collaboration, achievements and challenges. WFP Deputy Regional Director for the Asia Pacific, Anita Hirsch visited Bhasan Char from 11 to 12 September 2022, to view WFP operations and meet with partners.

Relocations and movements of refugees

Relocations

No relocation took place during this reporting period. To date, 17 relocations have taken place since December 2020, when the Government began relocations to Bhasan Char. Some 12,000 individuals have been relocated to Bhasan Char since the signing of the MoU in October 2021.

Movement of refugees

271 Rohingya refugees left Bhasan Char for Cox’s Bazar on a Government arranged family visit on 8 September. A total of 1,500 refugees have benefited from the family visits since November 2021 according to the Government data. 21 refugees returned to Cox’s Bazar, after taking part in go-and-see visit to Bhasan Char organised by the authorities to foster an informed choice of refugees to relocate to Bhasan Char and to reaffirm the principle of voluntariness.