Terming the government’s internet blackout and phone restrictions at Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar ‘harmful policies’, HRW urged the authorities to lift the ban so they can address COVID-19 threat in that region.
“Authorities should lift the internet shutdown, which is obstructing crucial information about symptoms and prevention, or end up risking the lives of refugees, host communities, and healthcare workers”, said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).
HRW in a statement said “especially at a time of emergency, when access to information is of critical importance, broad restrictions on access to the internet cannot be justified on public order or national security grounds”.
They asked the governments to “refrain from blocking internet access” during the COVID-19 pandemic and to prioritise ensuring “immediate access to the fastest and broadest possible internet service.”
While authorities claim that there has been no community COVID-19 transmission in the refugee camps, medical experts say that not enough people have been tested to draw that conclusion.
Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), the national institute in charge of Bangladesh’s COVID-19 response, has so far only tested 920 people among a population of nearly 170 million.
There is currently no testing capacity outside of Dhaka. Oxygen, respirators, and other key emergency equipment are in short supply, particularly outside of the capital.
HRW said Bangladesh officials in charge of camps refused requests to run information campaigns.
Instead of preventing anxiety, the lack of accurate information is contributing to the spread of misinformation about the disease, they opined.
Local health experts told the UN organisation that there are no ventilator machines in Cox’s Bazar and no capacity for intensive medical care in the camps.
To contain the spread of coronavirus in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, the government has directed those exhibiting symptoms to self-isolate and to call the IEDCR hotline.
However, under the internet blackout, a ban on mobile SIM cards for the refugees, and with little to no mobile phone reception in the camps, it is nearly impossible for refugees to call the number.
The internet shutdown has already interfered medical workers’ ability to provide emergency services and prevent disease outbreaks.
In January 2020, a dozen children died from measles in Camps 12 and 13, but because of the internet blackout, health workers were slow to find out and were unable to intervene to isolate the infection’s spread.
“The disease spread very fast and the parents were not be able to quickly inform us due to the network and internet disruption,” a health worker said. “When we came to know about the infection, it was too late.”
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