COVID-19: Older Rohingya refugees are at grave riskView in browser. [[link removed]]


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Photo: Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh

[[link removed]] "I'm very afraid, because if the virus arrives to the camp, no one will be
alive, as here many people are living in very small place.”
– Hotiza, a woman around 85 years old



Dear John,



Today is a special day of unity and giving. It’s called Giving Tuesday Now – a
global response to the unprecedented need caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.



If you’re able, please give what you can today. Because, until midnight tonight
all donations will be generously matched by Amnesty International supporters
Alice and Grant Burton.
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Your gift will have double the impact towards funding urgent and emerging human
rights work, including that related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will help us
respond quickly to protect those most at risk during this crisis, including
older Rohingya refugees.




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Wash your hands. Practice physical distancing. We all know the advice of public
health officials and what they’re recommending to stop the spread of COVID-19.



But imagine if you didn’t have access to even this basic information. The
authorities have cut off telecommunications and the internet and you’re excluded
from local information sharing.



Imagine you’re also at high risk due to your age, lack of access to water and
sanitation and cramped living conditions. You’ve heard something is coming and
you don’t know what to do.



“I didn’t hear any new things, just people are saying, ‘A disease is coming,
pray’” – Abdu Salaam, 70



Older Rohingya refugees are in grave danger. Will you make an emergency donation
today to help protect them in this time of crisis?
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This is a photo of Mohammed Ali and Soyed Alom, two remarkable Rohingya refugees
I interviewed last year with a research delegation to Bangladesh. When I think
about the older Rohingya people I met, I'm struck by how much they've survived –
decades of discrimination and persecution, fleeing from violence, living in
overcrowded camps. And now they face COVID-19.



When our researchers recently spoke with refugees living in the camps, they
found that older people were scared and lacking basic information about the
pandemic.



Older people are often excluded from informal camp meetings due to physical
constraints and have difficulty hearing megaphone announcements about the virus. Most had heard second-hand information, with little detail other than the virus
was very dangerous, and they needed to “live clean”.



Older refugees face a devastating combination: they're the group most at-risk of
COVID-19, and yet are so often overlooked in the response. Please give what you
can today and every dollar will be doubled.
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Your support means we can continue calling on governments, donors, and
humanitarian organizations to put older people at the centre of their planning
and response to crises like COVID-19. To include them and their needs,
prioritize critical information sharing, and put preventative measures into
practice.



Numerous marginalized communities face heightened vulnerabilities during this
pandemic, and they must not be left out of the response. What the spread of this
virus should teach us is that globally we are all connected, and we can all help
one another – so let’s start today, on #GivingTuesdayNow.



In unity and solidarity,




Alex Neve

Secretary General

Amnesty International Canada



P.S. I’m so thankful for incredible people like you, who never give up on those
who need your help. We know this is a challenging time. If you are able to give
today, your donation will be generously matched. Thank you!
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