At least 29 Rohingya refugees who were stranded at sea will be quarantined at a controversial island located at Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh.
The refugees were made up of mostly women. They were transferred to Bashan Char Island which is usually affected by cyclones. The refugees were mostly children and women. The aim according to the authorities was to protect the refugee camps (Cox’s Bazar) from the spread of Covid-19.
There are more than 1 million Rohingya refugees sheltering at Cox’s Bazar. These refugees have been under lockdown since the beginning of April 2020. The refugees were only allowed limited movement within the makeshift camps.
The refugees were initially trapped at see for many weeks in poor conditions. They were trying to escape to Malaysia as per a statement by the European Union (EU).
The Rohingya is an ethnic minority whose members are stateless even in their home country of Myanmar. They have identified the country as their home for centuries. Bangladesh is one of the countries taking in these refugees based on humanitarian grounds. Authorities are making efforts to find out where they refugees travelled from.
These refugees according to reliable information are not suspected of having been infected by Covid-19.
“They do not have corona symptoms, but the investigation and medical tests are underway,” said the authorities.
Many of the refugees are reported to have ran away from Myanmar to Bangladesh seeking safety from violent military campaigns in 2017. Later on the ICC in the Hague ordered the government of Myanmar to protect the Rohingya minority community from actions of genocide.
On the other hand, Myanmar government has never accepted the accusations of genocide.
Rohingya refugees have always expressed their fears of being targeted by the Myanmar government hence leading to failure to repatriate them to their home country.
The United Nations is currently investigating the safety of refugees in the low-lying Island. This is because it usually gets sub-merged especially during monsoon season which is around.
Global New Light, the state-run newspaper of Myanmar warned the low-lying area of Bay of Bengal will become a depression in the next couple of days as a result of heavy down-pour.
Amnesty International reported that as of Friday last week at least 800 Rohingya refugees were stranded on boats across the Bay of Bengal. The organization called upon states in the region to allow the refugees to dock based on humanitarian grounds.
The Rohingya have been faced by numerous tribulations considering that just one month ago, at least 30 refugees died at sea after their boat ran out of food, fuel and water following nearly a two-month journey at sea.
Later Bangladesh authorities rescued another 400 refugees according a report by the UNHCR.
