Despite opposition from humanitarian groups, more than 1,600 Rohingya refugees sailed from Bangladesh’s southern port of Chittagong for the remote island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal.

Police escorted the refugees in 11 buses from Ukhiya in Cox’s Bazar for the journey to Chittagong port and then on to Bhasan Char – a flood-prone island that emerged from the sea 20 years ago.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh stated that it is only moving refugees who are willing to go and that this will ease chronic overcrowding in camps that are home to more than one million Rohingya, members of a Muslim minority who have fled neighbouring Myanmar.