Coronavirus and Refugees

Far from home and dodging the pandemic

Hassaan Bin Zubair

“The core principles of refugee protection are being put to test – but people who are forced to flee conflict and persecution should not be denied safety and protection on the pretext, or even as a side effect, of responding to the virus … Securing public health and protecting refugees are not mutually exclusive. This is not a dilemma. We have to do both. Long-recognized refugee laws can be respected even as governments adopt stringent measures to protect public health, including at borders.” — Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Covid-19, the coronavirus pandemic, endangers everyone on the planet – including refugees and other people displaced by conflict or persecution. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has rightly pointed out this fact by saying, “If ever we needed reminding that we live in an interconnected world, the novel coronavirus has brought that home.” These words aptly depict what the world has been experiencing over the last few months with adverse impact of the coronavirus disease which knows no borders, no language barriers; it threatens everyone on this planet. And it can only be tackled if we all, as one global community, work together and demonstrate solidarity. Because what this global coronavirus outbreak has undeniably demonstrated, is that the health of every person is linked to the health of the most marginalized and vulnerable members in a society. And these members often include refugees, stateless people and internally displaced people.

The Covid-19 pandemic is affecting the lives of billions of people across the world. Globally, measures to stop its spread have been drastic: businesses have shuttered, strict travel restrictions have been imposed, social distancing measures have been taken, and public and private hygiene have been encouraged. People have been advised to stock up on supplies and start working from home, where possible. The hope is that these measures will slow the spread of Covid-19, saving thousands, potentially millions, of lives. Yet for many people, including the hundreds of thousands of refugees in Southeast Asia, it is simply not possible to follow these recommendations and measures.

Refugee camps across Africa, the Middle East and Asia are packed with traumatized and undernourished people with limited access to health care and basic sanitation, perfect breeding grounds for contagion. Extended families jam into tarpaulin shelters with mud floors. Food, water and soap are often lacking. Illnesses, from hacking coughs to deadly diseases, go untreated, facilitating their spread. The coronavirus, which has already infected hundreds of thousands of people around the globe, could rip through these camps with devastating speed and mortality.

Although our collective concerns, presently, are first and foremost for people who are at greater risk of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19); however, we must not forget that this pandemic may also exacerbate the vulnerabilities of 272 million international migrants worldwide— 3.5 percent of global population. Persons displaced internally and across borders are particularly at risk. Some of the most devastating consequences of coronavirus will be in the developing world. Among the most vulnerable are refugees, 85% of whom live in low and middle-income countries. Governments are increasingly introducing measures, including prohibitions of entry of nationals from other countries, to ‘flatten the curve’. These measures are complemented by the closure of borders as well as the temporary suspension of labour migration. Migrants living in camps at the doorstep of Europe or the United States face the possibility of a devastating virus outbreak given their proximity to highly-affected countries and their cramped living conditions.

Within refugee camps, self-isolation and social distancing to prevent spread of the virus are nearly impossible to implement, and people are anxious amid the spread of misinformation. Meanwhile, many international staff from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the UN have been pulled out of refugee camps. Other international humanitarian organisations have significantly reduced their capacity and funding is stretched to breaking point or diverted.

Hence, not only the lives of migrants in camps are at stake in most affected regions, but it will also endanger lives of many in countries that host displaced persons, e.g. Jordan, Lebanon, Syria or Bangladesh. Panic is gripping the world’s largest refugee camp in southern Bangladesh, where about one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are living under a state-imposed internet blackout in densely-packed and squalid conditions. Social distancing and maintaining proper hygiene are nearly impossible when up to a dozen people share a single small shelter, while there are limited water and sanitary supplies. Access to health services and information are also severely curtailed, and any outbreak in the camps will surely have a devastating impact.

Resettlement is even more remote as the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees have been forced to temporarily suspend refugees’ resettlement travels due to states’ mobility restrictions and concerns over exposing refugees to Covid-19. Coronavirus is also exacerbating the vulnerabilities of migrant workers. These workers are especially at risk in the Gulf region, as most of them live in highly populated migrant labour camps with insufficient health facilities. Besides, irregular migrants detained administratively in cramped facilities are also prone to getting infected. A longer-term impact of Covid-19 may be on the future of migrants’ integration and social cohesion.

 

Evidence of severe economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on refugees and internally displaced people is growing. Across the Middle East and North Africa, UNHCR says that it had received over 350,000 calls for refugees and IDPs since lockdowns and other public health measures came into force asking for urgent financial assistance. In Lebanon, over half of the refugees surveyed in late April had lost their livelihoods and 70 percent reported skipping meals. Afghan refugees in Iran are among some two million people who have lost their jobs because of Covid-19. One in four reported that they had been forced to take children out of school. In Latin America, refugees and asylum-seekers working in the informal sector have also lost their income and many are now at risk of homelessness or have already been evicted.

 

Refugees in camps: A Snapshot

This is how things are in some of the most populated camps in different parts of the world.

1. Greek Islands

In Greece, there are more than 40,000 refugees and migrants on its islands with 11,000 children and they are living in overcrowded refugee camps which are potentially susceptible for the spread of infectious diseases like Covid-19.

The people living in the refugee centres on the Greek islands of Lesvos, Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos account for almost 40,000 people while Moria has over 19,000. And, these are all centres where people live crammed and have no chance of social distancing as the installations on the islands are six times over capacity.

2. Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, refugees in the camp in Cox’s Bazar province face a lack of access to water and sanitation. Furthermore, if they want to go to the toilet or wash their hands, refugees in the camp need to wait for a long time in long queues which means a violation of social distancing. The water point is located in a place where refugees might succumb to Covid-19 and all sanitary products including soap are in short supply. Even before the pandemic, the residents of the camp were only able to receive one small free bar of soap a month. Authorities in Bangladesh began a lockdown in all 34 Rohingya refugee settlements in the country’s southern district of Cox’s Bazar as part of its effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

3. Lebanon

Since Lebanon registered its first case of Covid-19 on February 21, the country’s refugee camps where living conditions are dire, have come under a spotlight. Refugees there don’t have access to masks, medical supplies or clean water. The overall water shortage robs them of the most important anti-coronavirus precaution — hand washing — which has become a luxury for refugees.

4. Northern Syria

Syrian refugees living in Turkey are able to rely on Turkey’s free health care system, but the ones on the other side of the border are living in constant danger. The Assad regime has bombed at least 70 hospitals in the region. Syrians in the area are not fully equipped to deal with a large-scale outbreak of the virus. Experts fear that if the virus were to spread there, at least 100,000 people would need to go into intensive care while it can only handle 200 cases.

5. India

In India’s capital New Delhi, Rohingya refugees are in danger because of the lack of support from India’s Hindu nationalist Modi government as it considers Rohingya Muslim refugees as ‘illegal immigrants’. The government has also framed them as a security threat.