We must not forget the most vulnerable during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The spread of COVID-19 continues to grow uninhibited. The number of countries in the world that have not been affected by the epidemic is almost non-existent. Countries are working to prevent the spread of COVID-19 disease and for the recovery of their infected citizens. One of the most fundamental of these measures is that countries tighten borders and enforce travel restrictions. These actions have affected refugees and migrants across the world since people migrate to other countries and seek to live a better life.

The International Organization for Migration and UNHCR announced on March 10, 2020, that resettlement travel for refugees would be temporarily suspended, although the agencies have appealed to states to ensure emergency cases are exempted. More than 70 million refugees and displaced people worldwide are among the hardest hit by this pandemic, having already fled war, violence and emergencies; also there are still people forced to move to other countries amid this pandemic. Although a large number of refugees live in cities, many continue to live in refugee camps. People displaced by war, conflict and humanitarian crises are often neglected during the global pandemic, and they always face higher risks and challenges in similar processes than the general population.

Measures responding to the COVID-19 pandemic  tend to focus on  communities within  countries, but strategies ought to also consider refugees and migrants and their needs as well. Most refugees live in countries that are less equipped to fight the pandemic, where conflicts have destroyed health infrastructures and weakened health systems. Crowded refugee camps and urban areas with a lack of sanitation increase the likelihood that COVID-19 will spread rapidly. In many places, refugees are already suffering from underlying problems such as essential services, good health care, and living in unhygienic environments. Moreover, they are particularly vulnerable to the social and economic repercussions of this pandemic because refugees can often face administrative, financial, legal and language barriers to access healthcare. Therefore, refugees and migrants are potentially at risk of contracting diseases, including COVID-19.

The ability to access health care is a danger to people’s lives, often due to medicine shortages and lack of health facilities. More than 80 per cent of the world’s refugees, and nearly all of the world’s displaced people, are housed in low and middle income countries, where health systems are mostly weak. For example, the total number of ICU (intensive care unit) beds and ventilators in  countries where humanitarian crises are taking place  give some indication of the fragile state of their health services.

According to the International Rescue Committee:

• South Sudan: Less than half the country’s health facilities are functioning and there are 24 ICU beds and four ventilators.
• Northeast Syria: There were 85 attacks on health facilities last year alone through ongoing violence and there are only 28 ICU beds and 11 ventilators in the hospitals used  to quarantine and treat suspected COVID-19 cases.
• Yemen: More than half of Yemen’s health facilities are no longer operative and 18 million individuals do not have access to proper hygiene, water and sanitation.
• Venezuela: the ongoing crisis has forced more than half of its doctors to leave the country, and 90% of hospitals have faced shortages of medicine and critical supplies. There are 84 ICU beds for a population of 32 million.

Recently, conditions in refugee camps are also one of the factors that need to be considered and improved. Many people affected by humanitarian crises live in camps or camp-like settings in host countries. These camps often offer unsatisfactory services.  People who are forced to live in inadequate and crowded environments, even in normal times, face a severe health risk. The lack of necessary facilities such as clean water and soap, insufficient health personnel and poor access to adequate health information has made people even more vulnerable to this pandemic.

Unfortunately, due to the environment in which they live, there is no possibility to implement a large part of the measures that their host countries are deploying for the general population. Therefore, necessary public health measures such as social distancing, appropriate hand hygiene and self-isolation are not possible or tremendously hard to implement in refugee camps. If urgent measures are not taken to improve conditions, concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak in the camps could take on an inconsiderable dimension.  For example, two Rohingya refugees have tested positive for COVID-19 in the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh, and half of the refugees at the Ellwangen  camp in Germany tested positive for Covid-19.

Furthermore, emergencies and lockdowns to deal with the pandemic have negatively impacted institutions offering voluntary community service for this population group. These people, who are ranked first in the vulnerable category, receive most of their services through NGOs. The unprecedented situation around the world has caused some NGOs to pause their operations. Besides, many NGOs cannot serve at the levels they want since NGOs are under enormous pressure from international travel restrictions and that they are losing their income along with a lack of staff.

On the other hand, it is necessary to take basic measures to help people living in cities and refugee camps to survive this situation with low risk. An inclusive approach that leaves no one behind during the COVID-19 pandemic must guide public health efforts, and refugees and migrants ought to be included in national health systems. Governments must consider the impact on refugees and migrants to ensure that people are accessing security, health services and information while tightening border controls and implementing other measures in response to COVID-19. There should be no forced returns or repatriations that are justified or based on fear or suspicion of COVID-19 transmission. Host countries also need to consider and include these vulnerable people in their aid packages to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, like their citizens. In order to meet the needs of people, it is necessary to support NGOs and mostly to ensure that their services are not blocked.

To conclude, people who have been forced to live a life that they did not want are in many ways forgotten today. While everyone deals with their own problems and every country tries to protect its own citizens, vulnerable groups such as refugees remain marginalised. No matter what the conditions are around the world, these people must always be supported and kept in mind in order for humanity to win.