Letters | Where will coronavirus pandemic leave Rohingya refugees now living in packed Bangladesh camps?

The international community must offer medical support, testing kits, data and funding to support the response in vulnerable communities
After the pandemic, it must ensure issues are resolved in Myanmar to allow Rohingya refugees to return home

Rohingya Muslims

Letters

Published: 9:25am, 29 Mar 2020

Why you can trust SCMP

With reports of the first confirmed Covid-19 case in Cox’s Bazar, it’s just a matter of time until the virus reaches the vulnerable population living in cramped conditions in the largest refugee settlement on earth. Thousands could die.

As global life grinds to a halt in a bid to contain the coronavirus, we must remember that life for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh has already been in limbo for years. Life in a refugee camp should never be considered an acceptable long-term solution.

We must challenge perceptions that because the Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar escaped Myanmar with their lives, they are safe. The coronavirus is a warning to us that we don’t have endless time to resolve the issues in Myanmar that would finally allow the Rohingya to return home.

We are now witnessing the impact that coronavirus is having on communities that can practice social distancing, regularly wash hands and have access to strong health care systems. This virus has still brought them to their knees.

In the densely packed camps of Cox’s Bazar, options for social distancing or self-isolation are remote, with many refugees living in cramped conditions in makeshift shelters made of bamboo and tarpaulin. Even simple hygiene practices such as regular handwashing become complicated feats of logistical planning when access to clean water is severely limited.

We will do whatever we can to work with the government of Bangladesh and Rohingya refugees to protect them from Covid-19. But the fact remains that Rohingya children should not be living in these camps. They should not have to fight a global pandemic with the bare minimum needed to survive.

Our global mechanisms for accountability and the protection of human rights have failed the Rohingya so far – it is absolutely essential that we do not fail them again. This is a global pandemic and the virus is now hitting the most vulnerable communities. Only a global response will stop the spread of the virus everywhere.

This means the international community must step up to offer medical support and testing kits, as well as share data and provide much-needed funding to support the response.

But stepping up also means so much more than that. When the dust settles, when planes start flying again and the borders reopen, we cannot go back to “business as usual”, we cannot assume we have endless time to resolve this crisis.

Rohingya children must be afforded a future of hope and opportunity, like every child deserves. We may not have the power to safeguard against another pandemic. But we do have the power to ensure it isn’t the most vulnerable that end up paying the heaviest price.

Athena Rayburn, humanitarian advocacy manager, Save the Children, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

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