Hundreds of Rohingya Stranded on Refugee Boats in Bay of Bengal

Around 390 refugee survivors were rescued on April 16 from a trafficking boat intended for Malaysia, while attempting to flee desperate conditions in the world’s largest refugee complex Cox’s Bazar. The boat is among many others still at sea, which had previously reached Malaysia but was denied permission to disembark with authorities citing the coronavirus lockdown. The refugees were forced back to sea where 70 people were reported to have died, and ultimately to Cox’s Bazar where they were quarantined for two weeks and received medical treatment due to the abysmal conditions on board. Three other boats remain at sea with about 700 Rohingya refugees onboard in similar terrible conditions, which the UN warns could present a “human tragedy of terrible proportions” if no actions are taken. Presumably, refugees are leaving Cox’s Bazar as rumors circulate of coronavirus spread and as Bangladesh moves to fence the camp and restrict communications. (Telegraph UK)

Analysis

The tragedy unfolding in the Bay of Bengal and Cox’s Bazar impacting hundreds of Rohingya who have already fled ethnic cleansing in Myanmar is emblematic of the further erosion of humanitarian protections imposed by new COVID-19 restrictions. If Bangladesh had refused return of the boat and Malaysia had forced those refugees back to their countries where they were reasonably expected to face persecution, torture or other cruel and degrading treatment, it would have been tantamount to refoulement. The principle of non-refoulement always applies under international law and under no circumstances is it ever permissible to forcibly return an asylum seeker. Furthermore, for the refugees in Cox’s Bazar, the right to health, a fundamental human right enshrined in human rights, humanitarian and refugee law, is impeded because refugees are being denied access to life-saving health information by the Bangladeshi government’s decision to restrict Internet communications access, including their freedom of movement, via recent policies to fence the refugee complex in an effort to contain the novel coronavirus.