[COVIDWatch]: Did this fight break out in a migrant worker dorm in Singapore?

By April 22, 2020 COVID-19, Health

We have been alerted to a video being circulated on Whatsapp:

From what we know, there is no context being forwarded along with the video, but given the recent attention on migrant workers and the dismal living conditions in their dormitories, the video seems to have gained some traction with many assuming that this clip might have been taken in a Singapore dormitory.

So where did it happen?

While we were unable to find anything on Tineye, a check on Google images brings up a link to this post on Facebook:

#Bangladash vs #Pakistan @ quarantine place of #Dubai

Posted by पि कुमार भारतीय on Monday, 20 April 2020

The caption, “#Bangladesh vs #Pakistan @ quarantine place of #Dubai” suggests that the video depicts a tussle between individuals from Bangladesh and Pakistan at a quarantine facility in Dubai.

Our Google image search brings us to yet another Facebook post:

কোয়ারেন্টাইনে কুরুক্খেত্র!! সোমবার (১৩এপ্রিল) রাতে দুবাইতে কোয়ারান্টিনে থাকা বাংলাদেশী ও পাকিস্তানী দুই প্রবাসী গ্রুপের মধ্যে সংঘর্ষ হয়। দুবাই থেকে আমাদের স্থানীয় প্রতিনিধি জানিয়েছেন, সেখানে অবস্থানরত বাংলাদেশী প্রবাসীরা অনেকেই আহত হয়েছেন। তবে ঘটনার কারণ ও হতাহতের কোন খবর পাওয়া যায়নি।

Posted by TV3 Bangla on Monday, 13 April 2020

The caption translates to: “The clash between two Bangladeshi and Pakistani expatriates in Quarantine in Dubai on Monday (April 9th). Our local representative from Dubai said many Bangladeshi expatriates living there were injured. However, no casualties were reported.”

While the two sources corroborate with each other on what was taking place in the clip, we were unable to find any other news reports on a clash between individuals from Bangladeshi and Pakistani individuals in a quarantine facility in Dubai.

The claim that this is a video taken at a Dubai quarantine facility is therefore unproven.

Bringing it back to Singapore, the lack of context and evidence also leads us to conclude that for now, the assumption that this took place in a local dormitory is also unproven.

We have reached out to MOM for clarification on this, and will update our post when we get a reply.

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