Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Bangladeshi counterpart on the decision by the Government of Bangladesh to relocate Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char island.

The UK Government is aware that the Bangladesh authorities have started relocating Rohingya refugees from Cox's Bazar to Bhasan Char. We are monitoring the situation closely. The UK supports the UN position that independent, full and detailed technical and protection assessments are needed to evaluate the safety and sustainability of living on Bhasan Char, and that any relocation should be voluntary and based on relevant, accurate and updated information.

The Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, underlined the importance of these points in a call with Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Momen on 19 November, and has discussed the issue several times with the Bangladesh High Commissioner in London. The British High Commissioner in Dhaka regularly engages with the Government of Bangladesh on Bhasan Char, most recently with the Bangladeshi Prime Minister's Foreign Policy Adviser on 6 December.