A thick water pipe snakes its way from Sudan’s White Nile River for over two kilometres, pumping into a large reservoir in Al Jabalain locality, where thousands of saplings are growing. The tree nursery has a capacity to produce 200,000 saplings a year – the fruit of a partnership between the Sudan’s forestry body, the Forests National Corporation (FNC), and . Refugees and their hosts together plant one million trees in a massive reforestation drive in Sudan’s White Nile State.
As Latin America emerges as the new epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, , the UN Refugee Agency, warns of worsening conditions for displaced Venezuelans in the southern region of the continent as winter approaches. In addition to health risks, COVID-related lockdowns and confinement measures have already resulted in severe hardship for Venezuelan refugee and migrants. Many have now lost their livelihoods and are faced with poverty, destitution, eviction, widespread hunger and food insecurity as well as increased protection risks. With the approaching cold weather, UNHCR is bracing for a deepening of the crisis.
Uganda hosts 1.4 million refugees – more than 80,000 of them live and work in Kampala. Refugees who opt to live outside designated settlements are expected to be self-reliant and do not receive regular humanitarian assistance, in line with the government’s urban refugee policy. tells the story of Mariney Karemere, a Congolese refugee who made and sold her handbags before the lockdown. The single mother of three now survives on food handouts from a community church.
Refugees at the Innovation Lab in Za’atari refugee camp have designed a robot prototype made from LEGO which automatically dispenses sanitiser so people don’t have to touch the bottle. Their aim is to help prevent coronavirus and contribute towards the global effort to control the disease.
As instances of hate speech, stigma, discrimination and xenophobia continue to rise as a result of COVID-19, the United Nations works to ensure that solidarity prevails during the pandemic. , stigmatization during crisis situations is not new. Migrants have often been scapegoated for endangering native populations. Therefore, efforts by the include follow-up calls to migrant communities returning home to check on their wellbeing. Additionally, the UN has issued guidance to address COVID-19 related hate speech to also fight the virus of hate.
As the Coronavirus pandemic spreads through Latin America, the is warning that many displaced indigenous communities are now dangerously exposed and at risk. National lockdowns have also ground to a halt many of their livelihood activities, such as farming, the selling of produce and handicraft production. UNHCR works with national governments to ensure COVID-19 prevention measures and assistance reaches remote areas where these groups have found safety.
Resettlement Offers a Vital Lifeline to Syrian Refugees
The United Nations works around the clock to prevent the pandemic from wreaking havoc on refugees, migrants and other vulnerable populations already facing humanitarian crises. In cramped camp settings, measures to avoid community transmission such as physical distancing and frequent handwashing, are difficult to implement. To prepare for a potential outbreak of the coronavirus in the camps, and partners have started constructing isolation and treatment facilities. Refugees and internally displaced people themselves are also responding to the looming threat of COVID-19.
launches a rapid response distance learning plan, the “Education Cannot Wait” initiative for 118,000 Palestine refugee students in 169 schools due to COVID-19 closures.
The number of people fleeing conflict or violence but remaining within their own countries has reached an all-time high. 8.5 million new displacements resulting from conflict or violence were recorded in 2019. Another 25 million were triggered by disasters such as cyclones and hurricanes. speaks with the Director of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre about internal displacement and her chief concerns in 2020, especially in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
Moheyman Alkhatavi is an Iraqi refugee who works as a nurse at a hospital in Abadan, Iran. He is part of a team of dedicated nurses working tirelessly on rotation to monitor some 50 new patients admitted to the quarantine unit each week while they await COVID-19 test results. There are close to one million refugees in Iran, mostly from Afghanistan and Iraq. From the onset of the pandemic, the Government of Iran has made efforts to ensure refugees have access to health services.
COVID-19 is taking lives and changing communities but the virus is also inducing massive protection risks for women and girls forced to flee their homes. Confinement policies and quarantines have led to restricted movement, reduced community interaction, the closure of services and worsening socio-economic conditions. warns that these factors are significantly exacerbating the risks of intimate partner violence, especially for displaced and stateless women and girls.
The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked an outpouring of solidarity from people around the world. This reaction includes refugees keen to help in the countries where they now live. Many refugees in Europe involved in medicine in their home countries are finding new ways to use their skills to help care for those in need. The (UNHCR) features the stories of doctors from Libya and Somalia, among refugee medics joining the battle to fight COVID-19 and save lives.
’s leading public health expert says prevention and inclusion must be at the heart of the response for displaced people, especially in areas with weak health services. The Refugee Agency is working to slow the spread of the corona virus, reduce its impact and save lives among the refugee population and internally displaced peoples. Most of the world’s 25.9 million refugees are hosted in developing countries, putting extraordinary strain on already fragile local health-care services.
Quasai and her family of 9 are doing everything they can to keep the virus away. The UN and partners are working around the clock to mitigate the risks, but more resources are urgently needed.