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In a Bangladesh refugee camp, I’m worried about what lockdown means for the safety of Rohingya women

EPA
EPA

Now that Covid-19 has reached the Rohingya refugee camps, there is a very real risk that the virus could spread like wildfire. More than 800,000 people are living here in homes that are small, close together and overcrowded. Typically, there are five to seven people living in one 10x15ft shelter made out of bamboo and tarpaulin, and this makes social distancing incredibly difficult.

The Rohingya refugees are also particularly vulnerable because their nutrition and health has been very poor after fleeing persecution, and now they are living in a very congested space with limited access to clean water.

The risks are tremendous and women and girls will be impacted deeply. We are already seeing that gender-based violence has massively increased since the start of the pandemic and now a heightened fear of catching the disease will compound the situation.

A young woman that I helped recently needed nine stitches after her neighbour’s husband slashed the soles of her feet with a knife during an argument over hygiene conditions. She told me that because the men are at home due to the lockdown, arguments which could have been resolved are quickly becoming aggressive and reaching new levels of violence.

Husbands are at home in a small space with their families all day. The children and wives might be asking for food and then the husband, who does not have an income, will become frustrated. If the situation carries on like this, then I fear violence in the camp could become extremely bad in the next month or two. Women and girls are living in a pressure cage.

On top of this, people are going hungry and struggling to access medical support. Everyone has a ration card and the food is coming into the camp but it cannot be distributed like it used to be. Due to social distancing, staff are working on a rota which reduces the amount of food that can be distributed each day. The queues for food are very long and some people are going home with nothing.

The lockdown is also disrupting vital services. The health centres have said that they will only see ten patients a day whereas before the pandemic they would see more than 30 people. This is really concerning, especially with the rise in violence and the increased need for medical services.

At the start of the pandemic, many people did not want to believe what was happening and lots of refugees fear what will happen to them if they are diagnosed, which is stopping them from seeking help if they have a fever.

ActionAid is doing a lot of work to dispel fake news and misinformation about the disease and to promote public health messages so that people know how to protect themselves. I’m running awareness-raising sessions for groups of women and teenage girls showing them how to use the gloves and masks, and how to practise social distancing. Now people across the camp are starting to understand the dangers of the disease and the need to stay safe.

All around the world, there is a lot of uncertainty and fear about coronavirus. At the start of the pandemic, I was scared. But as a humanitarian worker, I told myself I cannot stay working at home. My mother was very worried about me, but I explained to her how much suffering the people we support have already been through and how they needed my help. While working, I wear the correct personal protective equipment, including gloves and a mask, and I use hand sanitiser.

Even though the work can be tough, I feel proud that I can stand beside the women and girls in the camp during this time. I saw some children playing recently and they were making sure they kept a safe distance from each other. Seeing things like this reassures me. But now coronavirus has reached the camps, I am very worried for everyone’s safety.

Sharmin Akter is a case management worker for ActionAid and supports women and girls living in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Find more information about ActionAid’s response to the Covid-19 crisis and how you can support frontline workers here

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