The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNHCR , WFP , IOM
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: COVID-19 Cox’s Bazar - UNHCR - WFP - IOM
- UN agencies step up support for Rohingya camp complex, host communities as first case of COVID-19 infection is confirmed
Following confirmation that the first cases of COVID-19 infection have been identified in an overcrowded refugee camp in Bangladesh, UN humanitarians on Friday announced additional measures and appealed for funds to prevent the spread of the disease.
Speaking via videoconference, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Andrej Mahecic relayed Government confirmation that “one Rohingya refugee has tested positive for COVID-19 in the Kutapalong refugee settlement in Bangladesh”, in reference to a megacamp that is home to many hundreds of thousands of people who fled neighbouring Myanmar in 2017.
The UNHCR official continued: “In addition, one member of the local Bangladeshi host community has also tested positive. Both had approached health facilities run by humanitarian partners, where samples were taken.”
A series of concerted COVID-19 contingency measures have already been put in place in recent months by several UN agencies, but further international support is needed to assist the many vulnerable people in and around Cox’s Bazar.
“IOM is preparing 250 Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Isolation and Treatment Centres beds which will come on-line shortly,” said Paul Dillon, spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Upgraded triage areas have been provided in the 35 primary care facilities that the UN agency supports, “along with three isolation and treatment centres and a 93-unit contact-tracing quarantine centre, large enough to accommodate 465 people is nearing completion”, Mr. Dillon added.
The development adds further pressure on extremely vulnerable individuals preparing for the approaching monsoon season.
Last year, 16,000 people were affected in a single 24-hour period during one of the heaviest downpours.
Among the UN agencies helping to bolster camp residents, the World Food Programme (WFP) is clearing drains and stabilising slopes that have the potential to slip in heavy rain.
Most of those in the Bangladesh camp complex fled extreme violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in August 2017, an exodus previously described as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” by then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.
“There are serious concerns about the potentially severe impact of the virus in a densely populated refugee settlement sheltering some 860,000 Rohingya refugees,” said UNHCR’s Mr. Mahecic. “Another 400,000 Bangladeshis live in the surrounding host communities. These populations are considered to be among the most at risk globally in this pandemic.”
After warning that COVID-19 threatened to reverse development gains made by Bangladesh in the last 50 years, WFP spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs said that $320 million was needed urgently to help the most vulnerable.
Some $200 million of this funding is required for the agency’s COVID-19 response in Bangladesh and the remaining $120 million is needed to help the mainly Muslim ethnic Rohingya for the next six months, Ms. Byrs added.
“Lockdowns and restrictions in movement are affecting livelihoods of millions across Bangladesh, especially daily wage earners like rickshaw drivers, day labourers who now find themselves unable to meet their basic needs,” she said.
Under WFP’s scheme, the funding will ensure food security for families in rural areas and urban slums, as well as day labourers.
In the meantime, the agency has maintained national distributions of fortified rice, cash transfers and nutrition programmes, to complement Government assistance.
It has also begun building storage areas for food and non-food items necessary for the COVID-19 response, including personal protective equipment, and is helping other humanitarian agencies by moving supplies into and around Bangladesh.
- Wide shot: exterior, main entrance to UN Geneva, seen from above.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) – Andrej Mahecic, spokesperson, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR): “According to the Government of Bangladesh, one Rohingya refugee has tested positive for COVID-19 in the Kutapalong refugee settlement in Bangladesh. In addition, one member of the local Bangladeshi host community has also tested positive. Both had approached health facilities run by humanitarian partners, where samples were taken.”
- Medium shot: UN Geneva flag alley entrance, filmed from Place des Nations, Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) - SOUNDBITE (EN) – Andrej Mahecic, spokesperson, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR): “There are serious concerns about the potentially severe impact of the virus in a densely populated refugee settlement sheltering some 860,000 Rohingya refugees. Another 400,000 Bangladeshis live in the surrounding host communities. These populations are considered to be among the most at risk globally in this pandemic.”
- Medium shot: UN Geneva flag alley.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Elisabeth Byrs, Senior Spokesperson, World Food Programme (WFP): “Lockdowns and restrictions in movement are affecting livelihoods of millions across Bangladesh, especially daily wage earners like rickshaw drivers, day labourers who now find themselves unable to meet their basic needs.”
- Medium shot: UN flag alley with UN flag in distance at UN Geneva Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Paul Dillon, Spokesperson, International Organization for Migration (IOM): “IOM is preparing 250 Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Isolation and Treatment Centres beds which will come on-line shortly. We’ve integrated, we have rather upgraded triage areas in the 35 primary care facilities we support, along with three isolation and treatment centres and a 93-unit contact-tracing quarantine centre, large enough to accommodate 465 people is nearing completion.”
- Wide shot: UN Geneva with UN flag flying.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Friday called for an end to continuing expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where “unchecked” settler violence has surged since the war in Gaza began more than two years ago.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
The crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to worsen amid ongoing fighting that has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes and created acute hunger, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gaza: One million receive food parcels as humanitarians race to ‘push back hunger’
Food is slowly returning to the shelves in Gaza amid “apocalyptic scenes” but supplies are still desperately inadequate, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, as they issued fresh calls for wider access and continued financial support.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today told the bi-weekly UN press briefing in Geneva of more details that are emerging on the atrocities committed in El Fasher, in Sudan during and after its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO
Sudan: UN Raises Alarm Over Mass Atrocities in El Fasher as Survivors Report Executions, Killings and Rapes
More details continue to emerge about atrocities committed during and after the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 23 October. Since the powerful paramilitary group made a major incursion into the city last week, the UN Human Rights Office has received “horrendous accounts of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
Ukraine: Russian attacks on energy terrorize population as winter starts; could trigger major ‘crisis within crisis’
The UN’s top aid official in Ukraine expressed concern on Friday about “continuous attacks” on energy production sites and distribution facilities.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
Navi Pillay Retires After Decades Defending Human Rights and Pursuing Justice
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The telecommunications shutdowns in Afghanistan in September had serious and far-reaching impacts on people’s lives, according to a briefing paper published today by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence at the UN Geneva press briefing made the following comment on the ASEAN declaration on the right to a healthy environment.
1
1
1
Edited News | IFRC , OCHA , WMO
‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Melissa hours from landfall in Jamaica as humanitarians rush to save lives
Millions in Jamaica and across the Caribbean are bracing for massive impact from Hurricane Melissa on Tuesday as the UN and partners are warning of a “severe” and “immediate” humanitarian threat.