World Bulletin / News Desk

It has been claimed that nurses in Myanmar killed a pregnant Rohingya woman who had checked into hospital due to a urinal infection but never checked out.

28-year-old Hasina Begum, a Rohingya refugee who had been displaced after her village was razed to the ground by Buddhist extremists, arrived at Arakan's Sittwe General hospital on April 5. On the night of April 8, however, she was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Speaking to Rohingya Vision, an eye-witness Jamila Begum claimed that her cousin Hasina, who was two months pregnant, was killed by the nurses upon the orders of the doctor.

The witness said that two Rakhine nurses had turned up to give her an injection even though she had recovered and was not in need of one. When the witness refused the allow the nurses to give her the injection, the witness was beaten.

The two nurses then proceeded to give Mrs Begum the injection, asking her threateningly ‘will you still claim to be Rohingya?’

Withing three minutes, Mrs Begum was dead. Her body was discharged the next day.

She leaves behind a 6-year-old child and a physically disabled father in the Depaing (Refot Baariza) refugee camps.

Rohingyas, the native Muslim minority of Myanmar, have been denied citizenship by the Myanmar government and representation in the national census as the authorities claim that they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Ongoing violence against the community by Buddhist extremists in the Rakhine State have forced many of them to risk their lives fleeing the surrounding countries across dangerous seas and terrain.

Many of those who survive the dangerous trek have fallen victim to traffickers who hold them hostage in remote locations. Many also face deportation a persecution in the countries where they seek refuge.