doctor prescribed a cough syrup and sent us back home, but she did not
improve. The next morning, I took her to the healthcare facility again and
requested that the doctor give her oxygen support since I could see the
cylinder in his office, and she had received that cure back in the camps. I
even tried to show him the prescription that the MSF doctors had provided
for her, but he refused to look. He said to me, “Do you think we are sitting
here with enough oxygen to support your daughter? I am giving her more
medicines, she will be fine,” and asked us to leave the healthcare facility.
Soon after I came back to my shelter, her situation deteriorated. After two
hours my daughter died. 132
Amdad said that after his daughter died the authorities came to his shelter and took away
all documentation of her medical history, including documentation from MSF, and they
refused to issue a death certificate.
The husband of Bibi, 58, died from complications after being denied respiratory support
and asthma medication:
I took my husband to the healthcare center here three to four times. They
could not give proper treatment or medication. The last time I took him
when his situation deteriorated again, I requested the medical staff take us
outside the island or take us back to Cox’s Bazar to go to the MSF hospital
or Turkish hospital, but they did not allow it. Instead, they discharged my
husband from the healthcare center and said he would recover at home. He
died the next morning. 133
Nur Siddique said, “We are not getting medicine from them [from the healthcare facility].
We can’t even buy those medicines. We are dying because of coming to Bhasan Char. Did
they actually bring us here to die?” 134
132 Human Rights Watch interview with Amdad, Bhasan Char, Bangladesh, March 25, 2021.
133 Human Rights Watch interview with Hasina, Bhasan Char, Bangladesh, April 5, 2021.
134 Human Rights Watch interview with Nor Siddique, Bhasan Char, Bangladesh, March 2, 2021.
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JUNE 2021