Media Release from Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK

For Immediate Release: 28th July  2021

Burma Covid Crisis – Urgent International Response Needed

Burma Rohingya Organisation UK today called for a much faster and larger international response to the Covid crisis currently afflicting Myanmar. 

The whole country is suffering under a new widespread wave of Covid, with unknown thousands dying from the disease. The military are actively obstructing medical care to those infected, arresting medical workers and hoarding oxygen.

It is clear that the military care nothing for the lives of the people of Myanmar, and as such cannot be a partner for the international community in providing Covid related assistance.

The international community must provide assistance via local community groups, civil society including cross border aid, and via international agencies working independently of institutions controlled by the military.
 
“The international response to the Covid crisis in Myanmar has been too slow, too small and too limited in its framework,” said Tun Khin, President of Burma Rohingya Organisation UK. “There are many channels and opportunities to deliver Covid related aid which are not being used, and lives are being lost as a result.”

Rohingya IDPs in camps in Sittwe are living in crowded, squalid and unsanitary conditions where disease can spread very fast. Rohingya have already faced horrific violence at the hands of the Burmese military. They now face another disaster as Covid surges across the country. The international community must act now before it is too late. 

For more information, please contact Tun Khin +44 (0)7888714866.