found the publication of news to be disrupted and difficult under the blackout. Commenting on this situation, Nay San Lwin of the Free Rohingya Coalition said: In Myanmar, Rohingyas are severely suffering by internet ban. They are not being well informed about pandemic, how to prevent and contain the disease. Access to healthcare facilities and tests are limited. Myanmar must lift the internet ban, provide unhindered access to all humanitarian and healthcare.81 57. On 23 March 2020, Myanmar created the COVID-19 Emergency Response Committee. This is led by the military and has no representation from the Ministry of Health and Sports.82 Given the power to prosecute anyone deemed to have been spreading “misinformation”, it is feared that this committee has been given the power to further target, discriminate, and persecute Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine under the guise of fighting the pandemic.83 It is noteworthy that on the same day that the COVID-19 committee was formed, the Arakan Army was declared a terrorist organisation and the Ministry of Communications ordered that access to over 220 websites be blocked, many of which were independent ethnic news and media sites.84 58. On 31 March 2020, police and security forces raided and shut down a Rakhine news organisation. Days later, two other news organizations were raided in a similar fashion. Reporters and editors were interrogated and arrested.85 Local media coalitions and Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee, called for the dropping of the charges against the editors and pointed to the need for open and continued reporting during armed conflict and a pandemic.86 59. The availability and distribution of diagnostic testing is also a major concern. Testing has only been provided for areas outside of Rakhine and Chin states, leaving the Rohingya population untested and without crucial information needed to track the spread of the virus.87 This is especially troubling in the Internal Displacement Camps within Rakhine, where the crowded populations lacking access to clean water, sanitation, and other essential services have been likened to a “tinderbox” for COVID-19 transmissions.88 60. Myanmar officials claim to have implemented pandemic prevention policies within the camps. However, camp residents have told journalists that this prevention amounted to distributing a single bar of soap per household. Residents within the camps cannot afford face masks, sanitizer or other necessary protective equipment.89 81 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, ‘Impact Report: Stateless in a Global Pandemic’ (June 2020), available at https://files.institutesi.org/Covid19_Stateless_Impact_Report.pdf. 82 Progressive Voice, ‘A Nation Left Behind: Myanmar’s Weaponization of COVID-19’, (June 2020), available at https://progressivevoicemyanmar.org/2020/06/02/a-nation-left-behind-myanmars-weaponization-of-covid-19/. 83 Id. 84 Id. 85 Id. 86 Id. 87 ‘In Myanmar, the Coronavirus Gives Nationalists an Opening’ Foreign Policy (1 May 2020), available at https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/05/01/myanmar-coronavirus-pandemic-gives-nationalists-opening-ethnic-minorities-risk/. 88 ‘Myanmar: Displacement Camps Are COVID-19 Tinderboxes’, Human Rights Watch ( 30 March 2020). 89 Progressive Voice, ‘A Nation Left Behind: Myanmar’s Weaponization of COVID-19’, (June 2020), available at https://progressivevoicemyanmar.org/2020/06/02/a-nation-left-behind-myanmars-weaponization-of-covid-19/. 13