Covid-19

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Migrants Caught Between Climate and Virus Threats With No Safe Place to Go

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Firdhaus Roslan/UNSPLASH

Firdhaus Roslan/UNSPLASH

Caught Between Climate and Virus Threats, Migrants Have No Safe Place to Go

In a new report, Climate Action Network South Asia and ActionAid find Afghans are increasingly being displaced more by climate change than conflict. Weather-related displacements affected 1.2 million Afghans in 2019. One such is Ali Mohamed, a 50-year old farmer who lost his sheep to drought, then the following year, lost his son, two daughters and home in a flood. Now those displaced also contend with the coronavirus, with Afghanistan registering more than 3,600 cases and 100 deaths from COVID-19. With low levels of testing, experts believe the infection rates are likely higher, especially in displacement camps, where temporary shelters are overcrowded - sometimes more than 10 to a tent - and where clean drinking water, healthcare and sanitation are scarce. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) has observed instances from the Philippines to North America where climate displaced individuals are being forced to sleep outdoors or sent back to vulnerable conditions instead of shelters or camps due to concerns of coronavirus spread. As the Americas and Asia face hurricane and cyclone seasons in June, displacement, shelter and coronavirus pressures are likely to converge and increase. (Reuters)

Lebanon’s Refugees & COVID-19

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Lebanon Excludes Refugees from Coronavirus Response at its Own Peril

Lebanon, a State not party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, hosts more than 1 million Syrian refugees and nearly half a million Palestine refugees within its borders, who live in an informal context with rights and access to protection, healthcare, education and others, limited and tenuous, at best. Living conditions are spartan and overcrowded, leaving little room for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, public sentiments are turning against refugees, with some politicians even blaming them for the country’s financial difficulties. The country’s newly formed Council of Ministers have yet to adequately address the needs of refugees in its pandemic response or policy priorities and with refugee rights to access hospitals in times of national emergencies ill defined and disputed, this could lead to disastrous outcomes. Access to services is based on registration, which reportedly runs a gamut of options: UN registered, undocumented and local resident on the basis of sponsorship. Advocates warn that refugees with COVID-19 could be denied treatment if undocumented. Surveillance of refugees is also a concern after 18 municipalities tightened curfews against refugees, some limiting mobility to only between 9am and 1pm, which would impede access to medical treatment outside those hours. Despite these conditions, refugees are leading responses within their communities by translating COVID-19 health information into Arabic in camps, raising awareness on social media, and collecting donations and distributing relief. (The New Arab)

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When Climate Change, Coronavirus & Displacement Meet

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How Climate Change, the Coronavirus Pandemic and Displacement Feed Off Each Other

Global experts warn of the dangers these threats pose, not only to the world’s poorest populations, but for those living on the margins. Maarten van Aalst, Director of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre says a “perfect storm” has led to situations where impacts of disasters are far worse due to a sequence of shocks many communities are already bearing. He warns that communities are being hit more frequently by the same shocks, resulting in a situation where the total impact is bigger than the sum of the individual shocks. For example, climate change played a role in contributing to the fires that ravaged across Australia and displaced thousands, last year’s cyclones in East Africa contributed to the conditions that exacerbated the breeding of locusts that plagued crops and impacted food security in the region. Across the world, we are witnessing multiple instances of communities hit by one disaster and left reeling, then forced to contend with a second repeat disaster or new disaster before they can even recover. In this context, new crises like Covid-19 with its resulting lockdowns and social distancing that prevent supplies of food and essential medicines to populations already facing crowded evacuations, displacements, poverty and food insecurity is not only devastating but catastrophic. (DW)

Kenya Bans Entry to Camps - (We Go Inside Locked Down Camp)

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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 above 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 now has a family of three. He usually supplements his food rations with a meager income earned as a moto driver. 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 Kakuma by filmmaker Lieven Corthouts known to us during our time in Kakuma. 

Why Refugees are an Asset in the Coronavirus Fight

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Why Refugees are an Asset in the Fight Against Coronavirus

The authors, refugee advocates and authors of a new book that highlights the important contributions of refugee-led organizations, now turn that focus to the ongoing refugee response to prevent the spread of coronavirus in places where NGOs and the UN are constrained. In Uganda, home to 1.4 million refugees, refugee-led organizations are responding in both camps and cities. In the Nakivale Settlement, the Wakati Foundation is employing refugees to sew and distribute masks, while also raising community awareness about the virus. In Arua, the Global Society Initiative for Peace and Democracy is conducting hygiene and sanitation information campaigns to slow the spread of the virus. In the urban refugee center of Kampala, fears of the secondary economic problems the pandemic creates are acute as the lockdown restricts access to essential food and health needs. UNHCR acknowledges its struggle to meet  the needs of urban refugees and so again, refugee-led organization Hope for Children and Women Victims of Violence is filling critical gaps through distribution of food and soap to over 400 refugees, while another refugee-led organization is distributing food and soap to 200 vulnerable households. Similar responses are taking place in Nairobi, Kenya in the refugee-crowded Eastleigh neighborhood. The 2016 World Humanitarian Summit “Grand Bargain” recognized people affected by crises as first responders, and yet, these organizations remain on the periphery of the humanitarian system that still enforces a separation between the provider and the beneficiary because of stringent standards and compliance that hitherto have not allowed these organizations an opportunity. The unique challenges imposed by the novel coronavirus may prove an opportunity to examine the asymmetry within the system and highlight the valuable role played by refugee-led organizations to ensure their contribution is recognized by UN agencies and donor governments. In turn, with effective training and capacity building, new humanitarian partnerships can emerge that are both participatory and inclusive. (The Conversation)

Malaysia Detains Hundreds of Refugees & Migrants During COVID19

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Malaysia Detains Hundreds of Refugees and Migrants During Virus Lockdown

Human Rights Watch and the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network says over 700 migrants, including children, and Rohingya refugees from Myanmar were detained this past Friday, which the government claims was in response for illegally living in the country. Public anger has been turning towards migrants, with some accusing them of spreading the coronavirus and burdening government resources. Immigration raids preceded the arrests, where media photos showed dozens of migrants packed in trucks that usually carry foreign nationals to known cramped and unhygienic detention centers, while other migrants in crowds looked on. Malaysia, which does not recognize refugees under international law, has about 2 million registered foreign workers but the government estimates many more reside illegally. UNHCR confirmed that a small number of asylum-seekers had been detained. The location of the raids was near three buildings that had previously been placed under strict lockdowns last month following a surge in COVID-19 cases. (Reuters)