Lack of medical facilities compounds pandemic threat to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
By David Skinner
Head of Save the Children’s Rohingya ResponseJunida Bibi's- daughter, Rehana- (9), sits by her bedside at Save the Children's Primary Health Care Centre in Cox's
Bazar, Bangladesh. -Names changed to protect identity | Credit: Sonali Chakma, Save the Children
There are broadly two things that govern how nations and communities are coping with COVID-19: leadership and resources.
More than three months after the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, it’s clear that some countries
are doing well while others aren’t.
But top of everyone’s minds - not least those with the finances to help - should be the world’s most marginalised and
at-risk children. If we don’t protect them, we have failed in our battle against COVID-19 as they will be impacted hard
by a full-blown outbreak - they’ll lose loved ones, will miss out on any form of education, they might need to work to
help with the family income as caregivers fall ill or succumb to the virus.
In the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, leadership is not an issue. The Bangladesh government moved quickly to
implement a lock down across the whole district. It is working closely with partners - including Save the Children - to
respond to this new health crisis.
However, resources can be a problem. In the sub-districts of Teknaf and Ukhia there are an estimated 850,000 Rohingya
refugees from Myanmar and 400,000 Bangladeshis. The Bangladeshis who live here are not rich - they eke out a living by
farming and fishing. The refugees are even poorer.
Having already fled for their lives in the face of brutal violence in Myanmar, Rohingya refugees now live in overcrowded
camps. They share communal washing facilities and latrines. They live off the food distributed by aid agencies. After
decades of discrimination in Myanmar and poor facilities for learning in the camps, literacy and numeracy skills are
low, their trust is limited, and the amount of misinformation swirling through the camps is high.
COVID-19 has now reached the world’s largest refugee settlement. Refugees and the humanitarian community have been
preparing for this for some months. But despite that, it’s likely COVID-19 will quickly spread through the camps - which
have a population density four times that of New York City.
The atmosphere is one of fear. Findings from a recent consultation with Rohingya refugee children found that 64% of respondents reported they were scared of getting sick while 40% said
they were worried they or someone they loved was going to die. We will continue to do all we can to slow down the
outbreak, but just as we have seen in Europe, Asia and the United States, we will not be able to stop it. Our job will
be to treat those who become sick and save as many lives as possible.
This weekend, Save the Children is opening an Isolation and Treatment Centre with the capacity to treat up to 60
patients with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, in the heart of one of the camps. This will help to serve
patients from both the Rohingya and host community with severe cases of COVID-19, so they can be isolated from the wider
community and closely monitored. We will stabilise those in a critical condition - treating them with dignity and
respect - and hope they may secure a referral to one of the few Intensive Care Units in the main town of Cox’s Bazar.
The hard reality though is that this will be inadequate. At best, it’s estimated there will be an additional 1,000 to
1,500 isolation beds in the camps to support COVID-19 patients, serving a population of over one million Rohingya
refugees and the host community. That’s less than one bed for every 1,000 people in and around the camps. Life for the
sick and critically ill will be unimaginably tough.
To meet this challenge, Save the Children has put in place mobile health teams to provide support to refugees who will
need medical attention but are unable to access a bed or get to a treatment centre.
Once the outbreak is over, we must collectively demand compassion, justice and commitment to the plight of the Rohingya
community. The world owes them much. Those who forced them to flee and inflicted egregious violations must be held to
account. Refugees must be allowed to return safely and with dignity to their towns and villages in Myanmar. They must be
given a stronger voice in the decisions affecting them in both Cox’s Bazar and Myanmar. Their rights - in full - should
be the focus of governments, donors, and aid agencies. At the same time, support from the international community to the
Government of Bangladesh as they continue to host the Rohingya, must continue.
It is impossible to be anything but nervous at this stage. Many people are working hard to avert a catastrophe, but
there is real concern that it won’t be enough. The Rohingya will once again suffer - the extent of this is dependent on
the steps taken now. As they face yet another horrific experience, the Rohingya community in Cox’s Bazar - especially
the half a million children - must be given hope that their future will be better than their past.