COVID 19: What does it mean for the Rohingya Refugees

The Novel Corona virus (COVID-19) outbreak has brought unprecedented challenges for the  Rohingya refugees living is Cox’s Bazar. Around 1.3 million people are in need to emergency food and livelihood assistance and development partners are thinking creatively to continue the ongoing intervention during the pandemic. This concept note is an effort of Inspira Advisory and Consulting Ltd to document the impacts of COVID-19 inside the rohingya camps and support in re-designing the humanitarian assistant programs.

On March 26th, Bangladesh began the long public holiday period to fight against the spread of COVID-19. In the troubling times of ‘social distancing’ the significance of building awareness in the Rohingya camps is more evident than ever before. To date, two confirmed cases found of COVID-19 inside the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. The population density in the camps along with surrounding host communities is 1.5 times higher than the city of New York and highly prone to a massive health crisis. Initially, the news of COVID-19 began to spread through different informal mediums as ‘Flying news’ inside the camps. Since Rohingya population could not access information as fast as others living outside the camps, they believe in people who listen to the news of COVID-19 from radio, TV, and social media. As a result, rumors were spreading rapidly inside the camps. Tens of thousands of Rohingya woke up in the middle of the night to recite the Muslim call to prayer, after hearing that the act could stop the spread of the virus. READ MORE……….