Coup in the time of coronavirus leaves Myanmar’s Rohingya population vulnerable

Mobility is a major concern in the pandemic for international relief workers trying to deliver aid, reports Rituparna Chatterjee

People attend a protest against the crackdown on ethnic Rohingyas in Myanmar (Reuters)

The United Nations and international aid workers are warning that the military coup in Myanmar in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic may further cut off the Rohingya Muslim population and increase their risk of getting infected. 

There are also growing fears that the progress made in repatriating Rohingya Muslims will be severely hindered, now that the nation is under the control of the armed forces accused of carrying out war crimes against the community.

“There are about 600,000 Rohingya that remain in Rakhine State, including 120,000 people who are effectively confined to camps, cannot move freely and have extremely limited access to basic health and education services," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. 

“Our fear is that the events may make the situation worse for them.”

Mobility is also a major concern for the international relief workers.

“We're talking about a population of 54 million people, and many of them living in very far off areas… To reach them, our teams are flying up to the central city; from there you take a speedboat, then you take a canoe, and then you walk,” Sanna Johnson, regional vice president for Asia at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), told The Independent.

“For instance, we now know that there are more military checkpoints …  We don't really know, for instance, how it will be possible for us to get [travel] permits,” she added.

Ms Johnson said the committee is also concerned whether it will be able to import medicines, with the market only having  “50 per cent of what is needed”.

“We had already waited three months for our import licence. And of course, again, with uncertainty including an airport that is closed. Then [it] is the question of how long … the existing stocks will last, when we will see movements, and if there will be boycotts," she said. 

The fate of at least 120,000 Rohingya Muslims hangs in the balance after the army seized power in a coup against the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday, led by the country’s top military commander, senior general Min Aung Hlaing, who in 2017 said Rohingya Muslims are not native to Myanmar.

A 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state resulted in more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims crossing the borders to seek refuge in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazaar, where they still live in refugee camps. 

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, meanwhile, told the Associated Press that any plan for repatriation will be “hugely impacted” with the army taking control of the country. 

“The military killed us, raped our sisters and mothers, torched our villages. How is it possible for us to stay safe under their control?” said Khin Maung, head of the Rohingya Youth Association.

“Any peaceful repatriation will hugely be impacted. It will take a long time because the political situation in Myanmar is worse now,” he said. 

In 2018, Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed to begin the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims and officials of both nations met last month to discuss the process. 

Human Rights Watch (HRW) added to the growing chorus of global voices, urging the military leadership of Myanmar to uphold fundamental rights of Rohingya Muslims. It was especially scathing in its criticism of General Hlaing’s role in the Rohingya crisis.

“The military commander-in-chief, Min Aung Hlaing, is credibly and directly implicated in crimes against humanity committed during the military’s ‘clearance operations’ against Rohingya Muslims in 2017, as well as [crimes] committed during military operations against the Kachin, Shan, Rakhine, and other ethnic minorities,” a statement released by HRW on 1 February said.

But Ms Johnson is hopeful that aid workers will be able to continue their work on the ground.

“We want all actors to ensure that peace is maintained. The worst thing for everyone right now if we were to see a big outbreak of violence."