Bhasan Char sees birth of 1st Rohingya baby

Bhasan Char's first baby has not been named yet.

The 7-pound boy, born to Rohingya parents, does not know it but he is the first newborn of the newly settled island in the Bay.

Faced with genocidal persecution in Myanmar, the baby's parents fled to Bangladesh, seeking shelter, in 2017.

They were among the first group of people who were settled in the small island off the coast of southern Noakhali.

Both the mother and the newborn are doing well.

The baby is the third son of Md Kasem and Rabeya Khatun.

The eldest son Noor Bashar was born in Myanmar, second son Abul Bashar was born in Kutupalong camp and the third born in Bhasan Char.

"My mother will name the boy. I am happy as both our son and my wife are doing well," Kasem told this correspondent over phone.

Commodore AA Mamun Chowdhury, project director of the Ashrayan-3 Project (the official name of the Bhasan Char project), said, "It was really a momentous occasion, in this month of Victory, that we could relocate the first batch of forcibly displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) from Cox's Bazar."

He also said, "I was ecstatic to hear the news of the first newborn of an FDMN family at Bhasan Char."