Bangladesh urged to shut island camp for Rohingya
Fortify Rights says Bhasan Char camp violates Bangladeshi constitution and international law, urges freedom of movement and right to work for Rohingya refugees
DHAKA, Bangladesh (MNTV) — An international human rights organization has urged Bangladesh’s interim government to immediately close the Bhasan Char refugee camp and grant Rohingya refugees freedom of movement and access to livelihoods, warning that conditions on the remote island amount to mass arbitrary detention.
In a report released on Jan. 21, Fortify Rights said Rohingya refugees confined on Bhasan Char face severe restrictions on liberty that violate Bangladesh’s constitution and international human rights law. The findings are based on more than 100 interviews conducted over five years with refugees, aid workers, journalists and officials.
The 36-page report, titled “Like Prisoners,” concludes that the isolation and control imposed on the island function as de facto detention. Refugees require official permission to leave even for medical care, funerals or family reunification, with applications frequently delayed or denied through opaque and arbitrary processes.
Fortify Rights said Bangladeshi authorities, particularly under the previous government of Sheikh Hasina, misled and coerced refugees into relocating to the island, including by promising jobs, cash assistance or third-country resettlement, and by threatening detention or forced return to Myanmar. Once transferred, refugees discovered they could not freely return to the mainland camps in Cox’s Bazar.
Bhasan Char, a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal, was proposed in 2018 as a solution to overcrowding after hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled a genocidal military campaign in Myanmar.
Transfers began in 2020, and despite early concerns, the United Nations signed a humanitarian access agreement with Bangladesh in 2021. As of December 2025, more than 34,500 Rohingya were living on the island.
The report documents prison-like conditions, including barbed-wire fencing, guard towers, armed patrols and round-the-clock surveillance. Refugees interviewed repeatedly described the camp as a place of confinement rather than protection.
Bangladesh’s current Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, recently acknowledged in interviews that the project was “a kind of confinement” and described Bhasan Char as a failed initiative. However, the interim government has yet to announce plans to close the camp or relocate residents.
Fortify Rights said the continued confinement violates international law, which prohibits arbitrary deprivation of liberty, including when restrictions result from exercising the right to seek asylum or disproportionately affect a particular ethnic or religious group.
The organization called on Bangladesh and international partners to dismantle restrictive policies nationwide and ensure Rohingya refugees can move freely and work legally.
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