Tables 2.
Impacts and vulnerabilities of COVID-19 on indigenous people.
| Types of vulnerabilities | Impacts and vulnerabilities of COVID-19 on indigenous people |
|---|---|
| Economic & subsistence | Threat of traditional livelihoods; Loss of income generating activities; Cannot sell and buy products in the market; Crops/vegetables are rotten and damaged in the fields; Price hiked and unable to buy necessary products; Loss of jobs; Impede to wave/knit and sell traditional dresses; |
| Deprivation of health-related services | Limited access to expert doctors; Limited access to hygienic material, i.e., masks, sanitizer, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) etc.; No medical health center in the locality; Have to depend on traditional healers; No facilities to COVID-19 test and contact-tracking system; Have no awareness about diseases or risks of diseases; Poor communication impedes to get medical treatment |
| Deprivation of education | Deprivation from getting formal education; Have limited access of online education through TV/internet; Having less aware about getting education; Poor network system to get access of internet/mobile; Limited access to smart phone/computer/TV; Less capability to meet educational expenditures; |
| Disruption of culture & tradition | Disruption of cultural gathering such as harvesting crops, marriage ceremony, celebrating religious function, gossiping etc.; Elderly people are the savior of traditional knowledge, wisdom, and expertise but they are under the great risk of COVID-19; Chakma language is under great threat as elderly people are the main users; |
| Land grabbing and violations | Land is grabbed by settler people; Due to lockdown, cannot get media coverage and support from law enforcement authority; Widow and destitute women loss their lands/belongings; |
| Relief/supports | Getting limited support from GO/NGOs in lockdown periods; Deprived from getting relief/loan; Unequal distribution of relief; |
| Social sufferings | Stigmatized for the infection of COVID-19; Getting negligence to return from city in the community; Inhuman sufferings in quarantine process; No scope to go temple for prayer; |
| Political sufferings | No scope to go outside during lockdown; No freedom to take decision; Political leaders pay no heed to our sufferings; |
Source: field work