The predicament of the Rohingha refugees from Myanmar facing the Covid-19 virus

[Mary]

Coronavirus threatens Myanmar’s most vulnerable in displacement camps
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-52115969

Nadira Murray and a friend made a film about them.

[Clark]

This is horrifying, but tragically it is a scene likely to be repeated in many poorer parts of the world over the next few months, especially where population density is high.

The dismissive attitude of the Myanmar authorities is disgusting, yet there is something of an echo in the UK and US governments’ glacially slow response to the oncoming crisis. Governments have had warning since January; society could have been reorganised around social distancing, extended intensive care facilities could have been prepared, and proper protective equipment, especially for medical staff, could have been obtained in advance. Instead, profit was prioritised ahead of the people; social distancing was left until the crisis was upon us so that the economy could be kept running. When policy was at last announced we were old that it would be “nice to have quite a big epidemic” to achieve herd immunity quickly, and it took an outcry from the scientific community to provoke a government U-turn, too late.

The Hammer and the Dance.

[Author]

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