Thousands of migrant workers in India have been sprayed with a bleach disinfectant after they returned home during the country’s coronavirus lockdown.
Video captured by a reporter in the northern city of Bareilly shows migrants forced to sit on the ground after they arrived, as three people in protective gear doused them with the spray.
Utterly shameful of local officials in Bareilly: ‘chemical bath’ by spraying disinfectants on returning migrant workers instead of on the bus. Officials have been suspended now after video went viral: exposes the mindset of authorities when dealing with the poor. pic.twitter.com/fuenv5z5DU
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) March 30, 2020
Millions of migrant workers stranded Millions of migrant workers in India have been attempting to make their way home after the government locked down the entire country a week ago. Many of the workers were left without food and shelter and had no option but to make long and often deadly journeys home. How were they sprayed? The migrants in Bareilly, which is a city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, were told by officials when they arrived that they would be put on a bus and given food. Instead, they were sprayed with the disinfectant, which contained a mixture of water and sodium hypochlorite, according to the Times of India. Sodium hypochlorite is widely used as a bleaching agent in the textile, detergents, and paper industries. As many as 5,000 people have been “publicly sprayed” when they arrived in Bareilly alone, according to Ashok Gautam, a senior officer in charge of COVID-19 operations in Uttar Pradesh, who spoke to CNN.