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Rohingya refugees flee vaccination in COVID-hit India | Coronavirus News Plague

New Delhi, India – Earlier this month, Noor Aisha, a 55-year-old Rohingya, died of COVID-19 complications at a government hospital in Kashmir run by India.

Aisha was one of more than 200 refugees who were arrested three months ago and detained in the Himalayan province of Kathua state for living in India “illegally”.

“My mother already had respiratory problems and minor heart problems,” Akhtar Hussain, Aisha’s 21-year-old son, told Al Jazeera.

“After his arrest on March 6 and others, his health began to deteriorate.”

Aisha and her 70-year-old husband, Nadim Hussain, were arrested on March 6 along with 220 other undocumented Rohingya and sent to Hiranagar Prison in Kathua for alleged misconduct.

At least 53 of the refugees were tested with COVID-19 in prison, officials said.

Many Rohingya Muslims have fled the military in Rakhine state in Myanmar [Kanika Gupta/Al Jazeera]

“We immediately selected these people and gave them medication as prescribed by a doctor,” the police chief at the Hiranagar Holding Center, who did not want to be named, told Al Jazeera.

Police said the facility provided the first COVID-19 vaccine to at least 57 Rohingya, who were over 45 years old.

“We have a team of doctors who come every day to check on the health of the inmates,” he said.

A doctor at Government Medical College in Kathua said Aisha recovered and was tested for HIV on June 6.

“According to our doctors, she was diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia and IHD (ischemic heart disease) at the time of her death,” Dr Deepak Abrol, head of the oncology department and hospital spokesman, told Al Jazeera.

In short, he died of cardiovascular disease due to COVID syndrome. ”

Fear is bound and banished

India’s Jammu region in Kashmir is home to about 6,000 Rohingya refugees who fled the Rakhine state war in Myanmar.

“I left Myanmar with my parents and came to India through the mountains of Bangladesh,” said Hussain, who arrived in Jammu in 2014 to meet his brother who had previously moved.

“We traveled for several days without food and water to reach Bangladesh and then stayed in Kolkata for a few days before coming to Jammu.”

But refugees in Jammu live in constant fear of arrest and deportation, which was seized by the military in a February 1 attack.

India is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention and thus, does not recognize the refugee cards issued by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

As a result, they are not entitled to any financial assistance, housing, education, or health care services. The second dangerous wave of coronavirus has exacerbated their problems.

Last week, a huge fire broke out in a Rohingya refugee camp in Madanpur Khadar, a suburb of the Yamuna River in New Delhi, India.

Firefighters put out flames as fires reduce Rohingya camp to ashes in New Delhi [Meer Faisal/Al Jazeera]

The blaze engulfed more than 200 refugees, including 35-year-old Mohammad Saleemullah, who died with his wife Fatima as a result of COVID.

“My wife started having COVID-19 symptoms of high fever and shortness of breath last year,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that he had not received any treatment when taken to a local doctor.

“Fatima passed away eight months ago at the age of 29,” she said. “After her death, I felt very anxious and depressed for days.”

Saleemullah described Madanpur Khadar as a “garbage dump”.

‘How do we register the vaccine?’

Development workers say more than 20,000 Rohingya are struggling to pay for treatment or vaccinations due to a lack of legal documents and job opportunities.

Last month, India’s health ministry issued a new directive, allowing vaccinations for people without biometric IDs called Aadhaar.

This was adopted by the UNHCR.

“This will provide opportunities for vulnerable groups including refugees and those seeking to flee to hospital.” A UNHCR spokesman in New Delhi said.

“Combined with health responses, vaccination in the safety net is critical to protecting refugees and those receiving them from the COVID-19 virus. Protecting their health also protects the communities in which they are being cared for and for others.”

However, Rohingya human rights activists say the enactment of the health ministry’s directive also requires a concerted effort by local representatives to organize and manage the project.

This agreement is done by a representative or organization that often uses their IDs and phone numbers to secure places on behalf of refugees.

“We vaccinated 102 Rohingya refugees in Jaipur with the help of a local NGO,” Dr RK Sharma, a medical worker in Rajasthan, told Al Jazeera. “Second level will be offered based on the same ID and mobile number.”

As the vaccine began in Jaipur, New Delhi and Jammu refugee camps are still waiting to hear from the authorities about their arrival.

“No one has come here to give us the vaccine or to tell us how to get the vaccine,” said Mohammad Younis, 46, who has been in Jammu camp since 2008.

“They treat us as foreigners, not as immigrants. We do not know when he will expel us or leave us. ”

Mushtaq Ahmed, leader of the Rohingya faction in Jammu, said “the only way to fight the disease is to vaccinate everyone equally”.

While those who want to be vaccinated must register through government gateways, India’s division is no longer helpful.

“The Indian government has developed an online vaccine system,” said Sabber Kyaw Min, founder and executive director of the Rohingya Human Rights Initiative, a New Delhi-based group.

“Most of these people do not have the phone or ID number required to register. So how do we register a vaccine? ”

The report was written and developed as part of a media skills program provided by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.




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