+ A
A -
AFP
Dhaka
Two Bangladesh hospitals dedicated to fighting the coronavirus are refusing to treat patients from one of the country’s worst slums, an activist said on Wednesday.
Members of the Bihari community -- descendants of refugees who fled to Bangladesh after the partition of India in 1947 -- say the pandemic has highlighted the discrimination they have endured for decades.
Some 32,000 Bihari live in Geneva Camp -- one of the most desperate slums in the country -- where rights lawyer Khalid Hussain and police say two residents tested positive for coronavirus.
Hussain said a state-run hospital meant specifically for COVID-19 patients had refused to admit the two, declaring their condition “not critical”.
Now Geneva Camp residents were being rejected by another local hospital no matter what their health issue is, Hussain said, as staff fear they may catch the virus.
The Biharis have faced discrimination for years, as the community is accused of backing Pakistan during Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence.
About 500,000 live in 116 settlements across the country of 168 million.
Bihari community leader Sadakat Khan Fakku said a man infected with coronavirus from another camp had also been turned away by a local hospital, and he was now self-quarantined in a one-room home with his family. None of the hospitals approached by AFP would comment on the allegations, but Nasima Sultana, deputy head of Bangladesh’s health department, denied discrimination.
Dhaka
Two Bangladesh hospitals dedicated to fighting the coronavirus are refusing to treat patients from one of the country’s worst slums, an activist said on Wednesday.
Members of the Bihari community -- descendants of refugees who fled to Bangladesh after the partition of India in 1947 -- say the pandemic has highlighted the discrimination they have endured for decades.
Some 32,000 Bihari live in Geneva Camp -- one of the most desperate slums in the country -- where rights lawyer Khalid Hussain and police say two residents tested positive for coronavirus.
Hussain said a state-run hospital meant specifically for COVID-19 patients had refused to admit the two, declaring their condition “not critical”.
Now Geneva Camp residents were being rejected by another local hospital no matter what their health issue is, Hussain said, as staff fear they may catch the virus.
The Biharis have faced discrimination for years, as the community is accused of backing Pakistan during Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence.
About 500,000 live in 116 settlements across the country of 168 million.
Bihari community leader Sadakat Khan Fakku said a man infected with coronavirus from another camp had also been turned away by a local hospital, and he was now self-quarantined in a one-room home with his family. None of the hospitals approached by AFP would comment on the allegations, but Nasima Sultana, deputy head of Bangladesh’s health department, denied discrimination.
