UN, Bangladesh sign deal to aid Rohingya on island

JULHAS ALAM and RISHABH R. JAIN
Associated Press

DHAKA,Bangladesh (AP) — The United Nations and the government of Bangladesh have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together in aiding protection and management of Rohingya refugees on an island in the Bay of Bengal. More than 19,000 out of 1.1 million Rohingya refugees in Southern Bangladesh have already been moved to the Bhasan Char island by the government, and the U.N. said one of the key reasons to sign the memorandum was to start serving that population. Earlier, the U.N. did not support the government’s move. After the agreement, the government says another 81,000 refugees will be relocated to the island over next three months. Bangladesh has sheltered more than 1 million refugees from neighboring Myanmar, which does not recognize them as their citizens.