Will the Chinese Virus Bring “Carnage” to Cox’s Bazar?

“Now that the virus has entered the world’s largest refugee settlement in Cox’s Bazar we are looking at the very real prospect that thousands of people may die from COVID-19.”

(Dr. Shamim Jahan)

 

Two days ago I told you that the first cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed at a refugee camp in Bangladesh housing tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims.

The mainstream media has been predicting “catastrophic” carnage for weeks.

I’m going to report on the effect on the camp in the days and weeks ahead because I think it will be illustrative on the issue of social distancing.

I’m not wishing for a certain outcome, nor am I predicting what will happen.  I will just report.

When it comes to anything to do with the Rohingya, the mainstream media’s myopic view is not to be trusted. Combined with its coverage of COVID, finding facts will be a challenge.

In breathless tones I see that NPR, the Hill, Deutsche Welle, the BBC and Reuters are all jumping on the news they have been waiting for over the last two months.

Here is NPR with its dramatic headline:

COVID-19 Has Arrived In Rohingya Refugee Camps And Aid Workers Fear The Worst

 

It’s the moment international aid groups have been dreading for months — the coronavirus has reached the sprawling refugee camps in the Cox’s Bazar district of southern Bangladesh, home to roughly a million Rohingya refugees.

Bangladesh officials said on Thursday that at least two people living in or adjacent to the camps have tested positive for the coronavirus and have now been quarantined amid fears of a humanitarian disaster if the virus spreads unchecked.

“I’m deeply concerned, but, sadly, not surprised at all,” Deepmala Mahla, CARE’s regional director for Asia, told NPR.

“I am scared, I am worried, but I also feel that this is a stark reminder how vulnerable the Rohingya refugees are,” she said.

Save the Children’s health director in Bangladesh, Dr. Shamim Jahan, is worried, too. In a statement, he warned of the “catastrophic” effect of the virus on the Rohingya, and on Bangladesh in general.

“Now that the virus has entered the world’s largest refugee settlement in Cox’s Bazar we are looking at the very real prospect that thousands of people may die from COVID-19,” he said.

Continue reading here.

See my Rohingya Reports category with over 200 posts extending back a dozen years.  The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group that is permitted to be resettled in the US (there is no Muslim ban!).