The third phase of Rohingya relocation to Bhashan Char began on Thursday morning as more than 800 Rohingyas had begun the journey from Cox's Bazar.

A total of 16 buses, carrying the Rohingyas, set off for Chattogram from Ukhia Degree College premises of Cox's Bazar around 12:30 pm.

Around 3,000 Rohingyas will be relocated to Bhasan Char between Thursday and Friday.

Shamsuddoza Nayan, additional commissioner at the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission in Cox' Bazar, confirmed the matter.

He said around 3,000 Rohingyas have agreed to relocate to Bhasan Char from the camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar.

The Rohingyas have been brought to Ghumdum transit camp. Fifty vehicles have been kept ready to transport the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals to Chattogram. They will be taken to the river island from there, he said adding that already 16 buses, carrying 800 Rohingyas, already left Ukhia for Chattogram.

In the first two phases, 3,446 Rohingyas were relocated to the river island.

Bangladesh Navy had built shelters in Bhashan Char, a remote island in Bay of Bengal measuring 13,000 acres, for at least 100,000 Rohingyas as well as a three-metre embankment to prevent flooding.

Almost a million Rohingyas have been sheltered in various makeshift camps in the south-eastern districts of Bangladesh. Most of them fled to Bangladesh following a military offensive in neighbouring Myanmar in 2017.