Press Releases

03/26/2020

Covid-19 in Cox's Bazaar

Prevention and protection for Rohingya refugees (Press Release)

 

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) and the European Rohingya Council (ERC) are demanding timely preventive measures to protect Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh from the corona virus. Today, the two human rights organizations sent an appeal to the President of the European Commission, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, and the Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid. The STP and the ERC are demanding preventive measures to reduce the risk of a wave of infection in the refugee camps – calling for a special fund and tangible accompanying measures.

"Currently, the 34 refugee camps in Cox's Bazaar are a home for around 1.1 million Rohingya who fled from the violence in neighboring Myanmar," stated Jasna Causevic, the STP's expert on genocide prevention and the Responsibility to Protect. There are currently more than 630,000 people, mostly women and children, living in Kutupalong – the largest refugee camp in the world. "They live in close quarters, under problematic hygienic conditions and with insufficient medical care," added Dr. Anita Schug, neurosurgeon and spokesperson of the ERC. "Many are weakened by malnutrition. For them, it is impossible to observe preventive measures such as social distancing and washing their hands." In order to help keep the virus from spreading, Dr. Schug published an educational video in the Rohingya language, together with the organization "Rohingya Medics", which is linked below. However, the internet connection in the camps has been cut off for several months already. Thus, the STP and the ERC demanded that the internet access in the camps has to be re-established immediately.

The camps neither have the medical staff nor sufficient laboratory capacity to carry out tests, and it would hardly be possible to treat severe cases there. Under these circumstances, an outbreak of the new coronavirus would immediately lead to a catastrophe. "Therefore, all refugees suspected of having contracted Covid-19 must be given full access to the state health services in Cox's Bazaar," Causevic demanded. "They must be allowed to leave the camps under the supervision of the responsible authorities in order to undergo adequate examination and treatment." Further, the refugees should also be granted access to the services of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), and the camps should be supplied with test kits as soon as possible. Without decisive action, many people will die. The appeal also includes the demand to suspend the controversial plans to relocate refugees to Bhashan Char Island.