Bangladesh initiates vaccination of Rohingyas living in Cox's Bazar refugee camps

DHAKA: Bangladesh government on Tuesday started vaccinating Rohingyas refugees living in camps in Cox's Bazar area as a part of the country's mass vaccination process.

Some 48,000 Rohingyas, aged 55 and above and registered with the UNHCR, will be vaccinated within three days with the help of the United Nations agencies, Cox's Bazar Civil Surgeon Mahbubur Rahman told Dhaka Tribune.

"Community health workers are distributing special Covid-19 vaccination cards among the eligible refugees since the Rohingyas are not Bangladeshi citizens," he added.

Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) Shah Rezwan Hayat also informed that the deadline of vaccination will be extended if the desired number of refugees are not vaccinated by Thursday.

The Sinopharm vaccine is being used to vaccinate these people, and the second dose will be given next month.

Meanwhile, the government has not informed about the vaccination of refugees living in the Bhashan Char region of the country.

There has been a recent uptick in infections in the camps, with around 20,000 cases and 200 deaths recorded among refugees since the pandemic erupted last year, Dhaka Tribune reported.

Since August 25, 2017, more than 7,00,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have fled to Bangladesh. This Rohingya refugee crisis is among the largest, fastest movements of people in recent history. Flooding into Cox's Bazar district in Bangladesh, the refugees joined more than 2,00,000 Rohingya who fled years before, a report from world vision informed.

Today, about 880,000 stateless Rohingya refugees live in the world's largest and most densely populated refugee camp, Kutupalong. About half of the refugees are children, the report added.

On March 22, 2021, their plight intensified after a massive fire swept through Cox's Bazar, destroying more than 10,000 shelters, food distribution sites, and clean water and sanitation facilities.