Dear John,

As you may have seen in the news, the first four cases of COVID-19 among the Rohingya refugee population were just confirmed in Kutupalong, the world’s largest refugee camp. Over the last few weeks, more than 130 Bangladeshis in surrounding communities had tested positive for the virus. We are deeply concerned for these communities: now, with the arrival of the pandemic in the overcrowded camp, we fear the spread of the virus can accelerate. With your support, we can continue working hard to prevent a further spread and protect vulnerable refugees.

In Bangladesh, our teams are on the ground and have already launched lifesaving response activities. We have built new isolation and treatment centres to receive the first critical cases, reinforced existing health activities, and constructed new sanitation facilities, such as handwashing points. UNHCR has also trained Rohingya refugees as emergency volunteers and first responders, at the forefront of the response to keep their community informed about how to protect themselves and their families from COVID-19.

We need to act now to step up and support affected communities. Refugees and host communities are incredibly vulnerable in this pandemic.

In Bangladesh, more than 860,000 Rohingya refugees live in cramped conditions, which makes social distancing nearly impossible. They also lack consistent access to clean water and sanitation, and don’t have internet access to communicate and receive essential public health messages and information. Another 400,000 Bangladeshis, living in the surrounding host communities, have similar needs.