lost their lives.29 States have failed to cooperate to save lives and provide basic protections, leavriods on boats in the sea.30 Travellers and their families are also increasingly vulnerable to exers. The lives of those onboard the boats were also threatened in order to extort money from their families.31 Rohingya boat travellers who were turned back to Bangladesh, were initially detained on Bhasan Char island as a COVID-19 quarantine measure in 2020. Bhasan Char is a remote and unstable island off the coast of Bangladesh. However, they have not been allowed to return to their families in the refugee camps and have remained on the island despite protests. Bangladesh has continued to relocate Rohingyas from the camps to Bhasan Char.32 Due to the adverse social and political situation in Bangladesh, in February 2021, a group of 90 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, have drifted to Andaman and Nicobar Island of The boat suffered an engine failure and was drifting on the sea for a week. Eight Rohingya lost their lives on the boat, and others reported suffering from severe malnutrition and dehydration. The Indian navy approached the vessel with food, water and medical aid. However, no initiatives were taken by the government to disembark the refugees safely. As of now, the whereabouts of the Rohingya remain unknown, the authorities. ABOUT THE CESF CONSORTIUM PROJECTS There are two CESF Consortium projects regional project, and the second provides support to Rohingya communities in India: The objective of the , carried out by RWDN is to strengthen the capacity of vulnerable Rohingya refugees by mobilising the community to engage in discussions and resolutions of challenges faced by the Rohingya as well as taking part in mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Under this project, refugees and stateless persons in 34 camps in Bangladesh are taking part in an on-the-ground COVID-19 awareness raising campaign which includes the distribution of hygiene and sanitation packages. This project further seeks to paint a complete picture of the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable Rohingya communities by gathering data through small-scale interviews, case studies and testimonies from affected people. The ultimate goal is to amplify discussion at the national level on the current situation of the Rohingya community, engaging experts, researchers, scholars and leaders from within the Rohingya community to represent the group and work to increase dialogue about Rohingya human rights. Further, the project has a regional component, through which these discussions are also brought to Rohingya communities in other countries. To date 24 volunteers from the community have been trained to carry out COVID-19 awareness raising trainings and 40 awareness raising sessions have been organised for women in groups masks and feminine hygiene products. The team has further reached out to 30 Mosques in the camps and distributed hygiene packages inclusive of soap, face masks, hand sanitisers and guidance on how to include COVID-19 safety information when addressing the crowds during times of worship. 1,300 informative COVID-19 posters combined with the Ramadan calendar have been distributed around the camps and two webinars have been carried out reaching approximately 15,000 people worldwide. community. Founded by Sharifah Shakirah in 2016, to empower women and grow female leadership in society, their mission is to strengthen and empower Rohingya communities through education, skills training and advocacy. The second project, carried out by R4R, is centred around an awareness raising campaign targeting the Rohingya community in India. The main objective is to develop training and information materials on COVID-19 and its impact, access to healthcare, mental healthcare, and education as well as access to WASH in the Rohingya language. Through building the capacity of selected Rohingya trainees, the project supports the Rohingya community and raises awareness of these issues in Delhi, Haryana, Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir. The project aims to empower the COVID-19 related health and social distancing measures. These training workshops and informational products are accompanied by a small-scale distribution of hand sanitisers and PPE. New Delhi in 2017. They are committed to promoting the human rights for all beings, especially people from the Rohingya community residing in Bangladesh, India and Myanmar. Their mission is to highlight human rights violations of minorities, especially among the Rohingya community. R4R operates in India while also closely monitoring the living conditions of Rohingyas all around the world. 59