Setting up protection monitoring mechanisms in Rohingya settlements in Bengaluru (Karnataka), Ghaziabad, Mathura, Meerut and Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) to regularly assess the specific problems, including the spread of COVID-19, encountered by the community during the project.
Context and intervention:
The Rohingya Human Rights Initiative (ROHRIngya) a local non-governmental, non-profit organization formed by young Rohingya activists based in New Delhi, India. The main mission of ROHRIngya is to highlight, prevent, and address human rights violations of the Rohingya community. ROHRIngya carries out its activities in India and monitors the conditions of Rohingyas in India, Myanmar, and Bangladesh.
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent containment measures undertaken by the Indian Government have had a severe impact on Rohingya refugees in India. Most Rohingya families have been unable to cover their basic needs due to disruptions to their livelihoods. As ‘illegal migrants’, they do not have access to social protection programs or other assistance offered by the government. Many families are unable to feed themselves and there are increasing reports of malnourishment in the community. The intersectional discrimination that the Rohingya community faces in India on account of being refugees and Muslims has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Most significantly, the right-wing Indian media has been baselessly villainizing the Rohingya as deliberately spreading COVID-19 within the country.
While there is a general understanding of COVID-19 and social distancing in the Rohingya community, there are also high levels of misinformation which has impacted their ability to take appropriate precautions. Fears of being discriminated against or even attacked are preventing Rohingya refugees with ailments, including COVID-19 related symptoms, from accessing health facilities. Children of school-going age are housebound and unable to access education during the lockdown. Lack of ICT equipment limits their access to online education options. There are also reports of intimate partner violence, gender-based violence, and violence against children in households.
UNHCR, its implementing partners, and other NGOs are assisting Rohingyas in their main areas of operation. However, the issues are particularly pronounced in other locations with smaller concentrations of Rohingyas which have limited to no access to relief, support, and communication initiatives. These are identified as follows: Bengaluru in Karnataka, South India, and Ghaziabad, Mathura, Meerut, and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh in North India.
ROHRingya, with financial assistance from Minority Rights Group (MRG) and the South Asia Collective (SAC), is setting up protection monitoring mechanisms in Rohingya settlements in the above locations to regularly assess the specific problems, including the spread of COVID-19, encountered over the next three months of the pandemic. This information is collated and disseminated/used appropriately for the following purposes:
Initial findings:
While the project is ongoing and scheduled to come to a close only at the end of October, several crucial findings have already emerged from ROHRingya’s research about the living conditions of the refugees in different conditions in the settlement such as access to healthcare, necessities, sanitation, information about COVID-19. There are several important accounts provided by our participants about their personal experiences during the lockdown and its subsequent impact on their lives.
The second phase of the research entails conducting research on the assistance required in various settlements camps in terms of requirement of food, masks, sanitizers, hygiene products and to gain a more in-depth understanding of the immediate needs of the Rohingya population in India.
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