OVER one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are now passing their days in about 34 refugee camps in southern district of Cox’s Bazar amid the coronavirus pandemic. The virus has already killed nearly 7,000 people in 158 countries and territories. Most of the refugees sleep on plastic paper spreading on muddy floor in the tents. Besides, they are in need of clean drinking water. There is also shortage of masks, sanitizers and other essential items in the camps. Very few of them wash their hands and faces properly due to lack of awareness. Children play on the muddy grounds the entire day, and get back to the tents in the evening dirty.
“While there are currently no suspected cases of COVID-19 in the camps, the UNHCR takes the situation very seriously and is closely monitoring,” Louise Donovan, communications officer at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), told media recently. Focusing on combined efforts, she said Bangladesh’s Health Ministry had completed and validated a national response plan to contain the virus. Meanwhile, the European Rohingya Council also expressed concerns over the safety of Rohingya refugees in the camps. However, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner said that they have already collected sufficient testing kits to detect coronavirus for Rohingya camps. According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017, pushing the number of persecuted people in Bangladesh above 1.2 million.
We do urge the authorities concerned to remain cautious about the possible outbreak of the disease in the densely populated refugee camps. Otherwise it will create a total disaster not only for Rohingyas but also for the residents in the adjacent local areas too.
