Why The Pandemic Is The Right Time To Issue An Atrocity Determination For Rohingya
Upwards of 900,000 Burmese Rohingya live in the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The situation there was already dire. Then, on March 24, the city registered its first case of COVID-19. An epidemic in Cox’s Bazar could be catastrophic.
Rohingya refugees have endured tremendous brutality at the hands of the Burmese military. In August 2017, the military’s violent actions resulted in at least 10,000 deaths, the wide-scale rape and sexual abuse of women and girls, and other atrocities. The United Nations believes these attacks may constitute genocide.
Now, more hardship for the Rohingya looms on the horizon.
In refugee camps, social distancing is a literal impossibility, and access to medical care is limited. Clean water is scarce, making sanitation difficult at best. The Rohingya are, essentially, sitting ducks for the potentially deadly virus.
Click here to keep reading. Olivia Enos writes for Forbes.