[1][3] It is located in the Bay of Bengal, about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from Sandwip island and 37 miles (60 km) from the mainland.

As the island’s coastline is constantly shifting due to its newness and its position in the Ganges Delta, the refugee camp is protected by a system of levees.

[6] The Government of Bangladesh planned to construct a total of 1,440 buildings, including 120 cyclone shelters, to relocate 100,000 Rohingya refugees from the mainland camps of Cox's Bazar.

[2] The additional projects include raising the flood-protection embankment from 9 feet (2.7 m) to 19 feet (5.8 m), and construction of cluster villages, mosques, shelter stations, hospitals, water channelling infrastructure, roads, infrastructure for farming and numerous other land development works under the project.

Bangladesh's minister for refugee affairs stated the island is "ready for habitation", though he gave no timetable for the relocation.

The government had not permitted foreign journalists or Rohingya leaders to travel to Bhasan Char at the time.

She also emphasized the difficulty of repatriating Rohingya back to Myanmar due to the civil war, and preventing foreign armed groups from using Bangladesh as a guerrilla sanctuary.