Covid-19

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Kenya Restricts Movement in Refugee Camps; Bonus: We Go Inside One of Kenya's Largest Camps

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Kenya Bans Entry to Two Refugee Camps Hosting 400,000 People

As part of a containment strategy against coronavirus, movement in and out of Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps is now restricted but UNHCR says this does not represent a “significant change” for the refugees. Movement passes out of the area was halted in March but now host communities are blocked from leaving the area altogether and movement into the area is restricted with humanitarian movement allowed on a case by case basis but aid entry is permissible. UNHCR has reportedly altered operations in both camps to avoid gatherings and plans to distribute two months food rations at once to reduce contact between residents and humanitarian workers. Health and social distancing information is being shared via mobile phone apps like WhatsApp. Kenya has yet to record any cases in the two camps, which houses 217,000 people in eastern Kenya in Dadaab along the Somali border, and 190,000 in northwestern Kenya along the South Sudanese border, respectively. The majority of refugees hail from Somalia, South Sudan and Ethiopia. Health experts and humanitarians warn a COVID-19 outbreak in either camp would be catastrophic, where Dadaab has a quarantine capacity for only 2,000 people and one dedicated COVID-19 health facility with 110 beds. (Al Jazeera)

Bonus

The below footage was sent to us from Ethiopian refugee and Kakuma refugee camp resident Korsamo who wanted to show us life in the camp today after the lockdown and new restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Korsamo came to Kakuma several years ago to seek refuge from persecution, where he met his wife and had three children together. He usually supplements his food rations with a meager income earned as a moto driver but now under the new restrictions, the usual hustle and bustle in the camp, (which we have witnessed first hand while living and working there) has come to a standstill, and with it, his income. For more on life in Kakuma, check out the film Invisible City, shot on location in the camp by filmmaker Lieven Corthouts known to us during our time in Kakuma. 

Life in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya during Covid-19 lockdwon

Facing Eroding Protections, Hundreds of Rohingya Flee Camp to no Avail

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Hundreds of Rohingya Stranded on Refugee Boats in Bay of Bengal

Around 390 refugee survivors were rescued on April 16 from a trafficking boat intended for Malaysia, while attempting to flee desperate conditions in the world’s largest refugee complex Cox’s Bazar. The boat is among many others still at sea, which had previously reached Malaysia but was denied permission to disembark with authorities citing the coronavirus lockdown. The refugees were forced back to sea where 70 people were reported to have died, and ultimately to Cox’s Bazar where they were quarantined for two weeks and received medical treatment due to the abysmal conditions on board. Three other boats remain at sea with about 700 Rohingya refugees onboard in similar terrible conditions, which the UN warns could present a “human tragedy of terrible proportions” if no actions are taken. Presumably, refugees are leaving Cox’s Bazar as rumors circulate of coronavirus spread and as Bangladesh moves to fence the camp and restrict communications. (Telegraph UK)

Analysis

The tragedy unfolding in the Bay of Bengal and Cox’s Bazar impacting hundreds of Rohingya who have already fled ethnic cleansing in Myanmar is emblematic of the further erosion of humanitarian protections imposed by new COVID-19 restrictions. If Bangladesh had refused return of the boat and Malaysia had forced those refugees back to their countries where they were reasonably expected to face persecution, torture or other cruel and degrading treatment, it would have been tantamount to refoulement. The principle of non-refoulement always applies under international law and under no circumstances is it ever permissible to forcibly return an asylum seeker. Furthermore, for the refugees in Cox’s Bazar, the right to health, a fundamental human right enshrined in human rights, humanitarian and refugee law, is impeded because refugees are being denied access to life-saving health information by the Bangladeshi government’s decision to restrict Internet communications access, including their freedom of movement, via recent policies to fence the refugee complex in an effort to contain the novel coronavirus.  

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In Today’s News: Climate Adaptation Can Risk Displacement; Refugees on Frontline of COVID-19 Response; Is Global Warming Driving Dengue in Latin America?; NASA Sounds Alarm on Global Sea Level Rise

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Climate Adaptation Risks Displacing Vulnerable Communities, If Not Done Right

In a new report, the University of California, Berkeley’s Urban Displacement Project and the nonprofit EcoAdapt term displacement - whether temporary, permanent, forced or voluntary - as an issue rooted in inequity, now exacerbated by climate change. They warn that climate resilience measures must take into account the needs of disadvantaged populations. Thus building more green space or aligning residential and transit development, for example, may achieve long-term climate objectives but also drive up real estate, and in the process, displace low-to-middle income families through gentrification. Efforts are underway in Los Angeles and Atlanta, where historically marginalized communities have borne the brunt of Atlanta’s flooding and ensuing displacement, to address inequities and address displacement caused by climate-related challenges. Local residents have been consulted, which helps to better inform policy and future strategies (Scientific American) 

Refugees are on the Front Line of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Let's Give Them the Rights They Deserve

From the Iraqi cardiologist in Atlanta, the Syrian teacher cleaning hospital wards in London, the Venezuelan doctor saving lives in Lima’s ambulatory service teams, to all those making soap, personal protection equipment, cooking free meals for health workers and volunteering in so many fields, refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants are among the heroes answering the Covid-19 response call. And in so doing, all of a sudden, some people’s concerns over borders and legal statuses are supplanted by the skills, knowledge and experience these populations bring to their foreign homes, showcasing that when people are empowered to contribute, everyone gains. Usually, populations forced to flee are caught in a labor trap, where highly trained professionals’ accreditations go unrecognized in their new homes and credential conversions remain elusive due to bureaucratic hurdles, costs or access to education, which refugees are often denied. As International Workers’ Day approaches and the pandemic refocuses meaning on the “essential worker”, the strengths of refugee contributions should be welcomed into the whole labor market, and not just the health sector. With plans to “build back better”, the vital contributions of refugees should now be made obvious as are the mutual benefits to society they offer. (World Economic Forum) 

Is Global Warming Driving the Spread of Dengue Across Latin America?

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have been warning for years that rising temperatures are altering the distribution of species such as mosquitoes, allowing them to live in higher altitudes such as the Andes, and with it, serving as vectors for infectious diseases. In 2019, dengue infections reached new records in Latin America, with over 3 million confirmed cases, a sixfold increase from the previous year. Over 1,300 people died but experts believe the death toll to be far higher in worst-affected rural communities where health services are scarce. Now, as the novel coronavirus enters the region, many dengue epidemics are already underway in several countries with Bolivia and Honduras among the hardest hit. IPCC research has shown that it only takes an average temperature rise of between one and two degrees Celsius to allow conditions for mosquito-borne dengue to transmit. The average yearly temperature across Latin America have risen between one and 1.5 degrees Celsius since 1980. Dengue was first identified in Thailand and the Philippines in the 1950’s but by 1970, nine countries had experienced outbreaks, while the disease is now present in over 100 countries in almost every continent. (The New Humanitarian)

A New Way of Measuring Ice Melt in Antarctica, Greenland Sounds Alarm About Global Sea Level Rise

According to NASA satellite imagery, since 2003, global sea levels have risen 0.55 inches due to climate change-driven ice melt in Antarctica and Greenland. Record melting in 2019 from rising temperatures saw Greenland’s ice sheet contribute to a sea level rise of 1.5 millimeters, and at this pace, sea levels will rise 2 to 6 feet by 2100, mainly by Greenland and Antarctica, which scientists warn will have dire consequences for coastal residents. Sea level rise will not only destroy coastal property values but also displace people - more than 40% of the US population - and have massive impacts on global markets ($7.9 trillion in US GDP alone) unless measures are taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions all across the world. (CNBC)

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In Today's News: Record Global Displacements; Covid-19 Heightens GBV for Refugee Women; Climate Change Displacement in US; Employee Concerns for Climate Refugees Drives Google Carbon Reductions

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Record 50.8 Million Internally Displaced, 5 Million from Natural Disasters in 2019

In its annual report, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) categorized the displacements as 45 million due to conflict and 5 million due to weather-related disasters. The past year marked a high of 33.4 million new displacements, the highest figure since 2012, with weather-related disasters accounting for 24.9 million new displacements and Asian countries and the United States recording the highest numbers. The displaced are now further threatened by the challenges posed by the Coronavirus, but even so, IDMC says the record numbers are indicative of collective global failure and calls on governments to solve long entrenched conflicts such as those in the DRC, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan, which have displaced millions of people. They also suggest governments do more to tackle climate change and prepare for the real-life impacts they pose to displacement. Coronavirus cases are being tracked among displaced people in Iraq, where the first cases were confirmed, and in Syria, Burkina Faso and Colombia, all dealing with displacement crises and rising infection rates. (BBC)

COVID-19: Displaced Women and Girls at Heightened Risk of GBV

The UN Refugee Agency is warning of the extra risks the Coronavirus pandemic’s lockdowns and movement restrictions impose upon refugee, displaced and stateless women and girls who are significantly at higher risk to intimate partner or gender-based violence. They warn that some are trapped with their abusers, while others lack documentation or have suffered livelihood loss as a result of the pandemic and may be forced into survival sex or child marriages. Within families, many women are also taking on increased responsibilities and burdens as caregivers. Survivors of violence and those at risk are also impeded access to psycho-social support, health and security services, including safe shelters, which have been temporarily suspended or re-purposed due to pandemic response. In partnership with humanitarian actors, governments must ensure critical services for survivors are designated as essential and accessible to those forcibly displaced, as well as access to justice mechanisms for those survivors of gender-based violence. (Gulf News) 

US Displacement in the Face of Climate Change

In the United States, 1.2 million people were displaced by climate-related disasters in 2018. Where people live is increasingly being driven by climate change, and that, along with economic disparity, showcase how discriminatory systems adversely affect low-income communities of color and further propel gentrification. Now enter the Covid-19 crisis, which threatens to further stress those existing disparities with the largest number of US renter households since 1965, who lacking recovery assistance, are especially vulnerable to a potential displacement crisis. With an aim to understanding the links between climate change and displacement, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) conducted a literature review of 384 materials since the 1970’s, which revealed historical inequities in American states that persist to this day. One example is coastal states, where housing continues to be built more rapidly in flood prone rather than low risk areas. When flood displacements do occur, neighboring areas are also impacted due to the housing shortages which can’t keep pace with the displacement influx. Further, many low-income communities indicate barriers to climate change actions such as lack of money, resources and clarity on viable options. NRDC maintains that the environment, housing, health, racial equity and economic opportunity are linked but underscored that displacement and gentrification are not necessarily inevitable in making American cities climate ready. (NRDC) 

Employee Concerns for Climate Refugees Drives Google Carbon Reductions

Since 2018, Google has made efforts to match every unit of energy it consumes with a renewable source on a 24x7 basis. Even so, employees found these efforts insufficient in the face of Google’s decision to maintain contracts with fossil fuel companies. In an open letter to the company, employees called for a “four-zeros” objective: zero carbon emissions by 2030, zero contracts for fossil fuel companies that extract oil and gas, zero funding for climate denying organizations and zero harm to climate refugees. Now, presumably in response, Google is working on a “carbon intelligent computing platform” already deployed to its data centers to shift non-urgent workloads to times of day when wind and solar energy sources are plentiful and thus, can be utilized. The company hopes it can ultimately be declared “24x7 carbon-free energy” in all its data centers, which it is almost close to achieving in Hamina, Finland. (ZDNET)

Note: Title of article changed by Climate Refugees to highlight relevance to climate displacement

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In Today's News: Refugees Face Threat of Coronavirus; Conflict, Climate, Contagion; As Himalayas Warm, Nepal's Climate Migrants Suffer; East Africa's Locusts are Back, Stronger Than Ever

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Refugees Worldwide Now Face Threat of Coronavirus

About 10 million of the world’s 70 million refugees live in crowded camps and informal settlements. Almost no refugees living in these camps have been tested for the virus, and testing, in short supply in New York, is non-existent in the global south, where ventilators, gloves and masks are scant. A review by Norwegian Refugee Council of 30 countries found virtually no testing before people became sick - many in cramped and abysmal quarters making social distancing and frequent hand-washing near impossible. Refugees have tested positive in Italy, Germany, Iran, Australia and Greece, where 150 people living in a quarantined hotel for asylum-seekers had contracted the virus. In Syria’s war-ravaged Idlib province, where 200 tests have been carried out but no cases yet exist, only one small health facility is ready to treat, but elsewhere, where cases have appeared, 350 health facilities have been bombed, over 900 medical staff have been killed and countless more have fled. In Cox’s Bazaar, the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh, aid workers are racing to build isolation facilities, while in Kenya’s two largest refugee camps, Kakuma and Dadaab, where refugees have lived for decades in exile, there are no tests, no intensive care units and no ventilators, and fears are that the worst is yet to come. (LA Times)

Conflict, Climate and Contagion: Refugees Suffer

As countries shut their borders and refugee resettlement operations grind to a halt, refugees in camps and urban settlements grow ever more vulnerable to the Coronavirus, where social distancing seems largely a privilege. Cox’s Bazaar - the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh - has twice the density of New York City, the current pandemic epicenter. Overcrowded settlements exemplify conflict, climate and contagion’s interconnectedness - all leading reasons for flight. The response to Covid-19 has highlighted the challenges of response in the face of limited resources - prompting questions of whether to treat the elderly over the young or the current workforce? These same ethical questions easily translate to groups defined by immigration status and borders as well, and while the virus has everything to do with mobility, it is migration that has been demonized. And all the while, it is migrants all over the world who have made significant contributions as frontline and essential workers in the medical fields, food and health services that keep the pandemic response moving along. (Newsroom) 

As Himalayas Warm, Nepal’s Climate Migrants Struggle to Survive

High in the Himalayas in a village called Dhye, an exodus of migrants has begun, forced by  dwindling crops, the closed school, and essentially, life made impossible by climate change. Millions of South Asians are at risk as glacial melt has accelerated and with it, made land barren and remapped the Himalayan region, forcing mountain dwellers to build life anew at lower altitudes. One of the most comprehensive studies on mountain warming last year revealed that even if the most ambitious climate change targets were met, at least one-third of the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2100, and warnings are that rising temperatures could spread malaria and dengue to new areas of the region, where mosquitoes have already started to appear in the highlands. Nepal is considered ground zero for the impacts of climate change and while the number of impacted migrants are unknown, local officials estimate it to be in the thousands with officials planning to track the impacts of rising temperatures for the first time in an upcoming census. The climate change migrants who have already left face numerous challenges in resettlement, where new residents have no legal right to land. (NY Times) 

Two New Generations of Locusts are Set to Descend on East Africa Again - 400 Times Stronger

Already farmers and herders across Kenya are reporting the large swathes in an infestation which first arrived last June and wreaked havoc across eight countries. Scientists say they never left and will only increase this year due to higher than average rainfall. East Africa, already a food insecure region for 20 million people, now faces additional challenges made worse by conflict, climate shocks and the expected rise in Covid-19 cases, and experts fear that up to 100% of farmers’ budding crops could be destroyed. Efforts to mitigate losses are underway but Covid-19 poses new challenges with country lockdowns and supply chain disruptions in pesticide shipments. Already, Somalia is three weeks behind in locust control pesticides due to Covid-19. If control activities fail, up to an additional 5 million could be food insecure in East Africa by June. (Quartz Africa)