It has been three years since a military-led crackdown forced more than 740,000 Rohingya to flee across the border into Bangladesh to escape collective punishment and violence in Myanmar.
Most refugees have sought shelter in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district, where access to clean water is limited, sanitation facilities are lacking, and due to overcrowding, social distancing is impossible.
While the number of reported COVID-19 cases has so far been relatively low, testing capacity remains limited and anecdotal reports from humanitarians suggest that COVID-19 has spread extensively through the refugee camps and the Bangladeshi host community.
The speakers also consider the different approaches taken by neighbouring states, regional and international organizations in responding to the crisis.
What can be done to address the needs of refugees in the short term and how can fundamental human rights be restored and protected during the time of COVID-19? What aid provision has been successfully delivered within Rakhine State and in what ways?
Ahead of elections in Myanmar in November, how can the international community persuade the Myanmarese government into positive action? And what would a sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis look like and what are the competing views over how such a solution should be delivered?
This event is held in partnership with The Atlantic Council.
Participants
Claire Smith, Lecturer, Department of Politics, University of York
Ellen Stensrud, Researcher, Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies
Rudabeh Shahid, Nonresident Senior Fellow, South Asia Center, Atlantic Council
Susannah Williams, Department of Politics, University of York
Chair: Gareth Price, Senior Research Fellow, Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House
