Covid-19: Bangladesh community struggles with livelihood in New York City

Many workers, especially taxi drivers in the Bangladesh community of New York City have been struggling with livelihood since the onset of the pandemic.

A taxi driver who has not worked for more than a month expressed the woes felt during this period, without a sustainable means of livelihood.

Osman Chowdhury, who has, at various times, attempted to get unemployment benefits to no avail said, “New York City’s unemployment filling system has kept me swinging like a pendulum.”

He further stated that after he filed for unemployment benefits, the city’s authorities interviewed him and asked if he had found a new job.

“In this situation, under this lockdown, who will give us a job?” he said,

Nevertheless, after the questioning, he was told he had to file again for pandemic unemployment assistance.

“They’ve kept us in this uncertainty, like running us through a mill, through the loopholes of the system,” he narrated.

Another taxi driver, Obaidul H Majumder who fears the exposure to the virus and has thus stopped working, lamented about the situation he has to go through to cater for his 2 children, his rent and wife.

Majumder disclosed that he had never been late on rent payments, but is having to negotiate with his landlord for the first time and currently relies on his niece to send him groceries.

The two taxi drivers are part of the Bangladeshi community, which according to the 2010 census, is one of the fastest-growing South Asian populations in New York City.

It is also a community that has been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus, which has infected more than 162,000 people and killed at least 12,000 across New York City.

Md Taher, a community health worker in Brooklyn said, “Many in the Bangladeshi community know someone or of someone who has died from COVID-19. More than 210 Bangladeshis in the US have died, with about 190 in New York alone”

Meanwhile, the community, is especially feeling the effects of the coronavirus as they begin the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“One of the challenges we’re seeing in the Bangladeshi community is food insecurity that could potentially be exacerbated during Ramadan,” another member of tge community said.

“So I know many of the mosques and social services are doing a lot around food delivery distribution and connection to food banks,” he added.

Cultural beliefs and stigma often discourage many of the from accepting help directly from individuals, and many prefer accepting assistance from government agencies or community organisations.

The likes of Majumder and Chowdhury remain in limbo. Eight of Chowdhury’s friends have died, and he said there are at least eight others who are sick.