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As the UN feels the need to remind us that ‘everyone is at risk’ from Covid-19, must we be prompted to remember that ‘everyone’ extends to the lives of migrants and refugees? As coronavirus cases increase rapidly, refugees across the world face the brunt of the global shutdown with little to no support.
There is a considerable risk that Covid-19 could encourage the use of draconian measures against refugees and asylum-seekers across the globe, examples of such measures are already becoming increasingly visible. Each day this risk becomes more of a reality; the search and rescue operations that save lives daily across the Mediterranean coast have already been halted in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus. Since 2015, more than 16,000 lives have been lost along migratory routes off the central Mediterranean coast, where these rescue operations have now ceased. Tightened borders and restrictions on travel disproportionately affect those who are most vulnerable. In government responses to Covid-19, there must be careful consideration into the protection of such vulnerable groups, particularly the refugee and asylum-seeking communities. The fear of refoulement (forcibly returning refugees/asylum seekers to a country where they may be subject to persecution) is a very real fear for those without protection. With states of emergencies and lockdowns resulting in less volunteers to provide assistance to these vulnerable communities, there must be alternative protection measures put in place by states to ensure continued access to safety, healthcare and necessary provisions.
Despite the large numbers of displaced persons residing in France, particularly in Dunkirk and Calais, the French government is yet to act in sufficient protection of these vulnerable persons from the impending pandemic. In Calais there has been a haphazard attempt at sheltering migrants on a voluntary basis, however with little and poorly-translated information and fears over requests for documentation, it can be expected that many will refuse. Despite plans to begin offering shelter to migrants in Calais on March 31st, as of April 3rd there was no movement, with attempts since being lacklustre at best.
April 2nd saw the closure of a refugee camp in Ritsona, north of Athens, in Greece. As the camp has been quarantined after 20 of its residents tested positive for Covid-19, its 2,300 inhabitants have essentially become rats in an experimental cage. An increased police presence ensures that no one leaves the camp, the inhabitants exist in unsanitary surroundings with inadequate access to food and cramped living conditions, and are now left at the mercy of a virus that kills. The examples could go on, Syrian refugees in Lebanon are being left at the hands of its anti-refugee authorities, and displaced persons in Nairobi and Mathare, Kenya are suffering from a lack of clean water to drink, let alone for use of sanitation to prevent spreading the virus.
“Whilst the impact Covid-19 has on refugees and migrants is obvious, it is also obviously political.”
Policies and practices of governments and local authorities during the pandemic are shifting at an unprecedented rate, in search of implementing the most protective measures for their societies. Whilst the impact Covid-19 has on refugees and migrants is obvious, it is also obviously political. Protection does not extend to refugees; it works against them. The protective actions implemented by states include but are not limited to, monetary injections into their healthcare systems, social distancing measures and financial support for those whose income has been affected by the lockdowns imposed due to Covid-19. However, it is becoming increasingly obvious that social distancing is a privilege that is not afforded by everyone. Particularly in developing countries, social distancing and access to sanitation is a practice that only the socio-economically affluent can enjoy.
There are currently 70.8 million forcibly displaced persons across the globe. What measures are they able to take against Covid-19?
The barbed-wire fences that surround refugee camps do not protect their inhabitants from the threat of Covid-19. Yet, tests worldwide for the virus are being implemented on a voluntary, self-reporting basis by which one must declare themselves to the authorities as showing symptoms of the virus. After countless cases of harassment and threats of deportation for refugees who engage with state authorities, a hostile environment is established where it is unlikely that a refugee would report themselves as showing symptoms in fear of being reprimanded. In Lebanon, for example, the spread of Covid-19 has arrived in the midst of campaigning season for Lebanese politicians, in which they have been gaining popular support with the rhetoric of ‘ridding’ the country of refugees, particularly from Syria. There is no mention of refugees in Lebanon’s plan to tackle coronavirus, nor whether they are eligible for the government-implemented free testing of coronavirus in the public Rafiq Hariri University Hospital in Beirut. As Lebanon holds the highest number of Syrian refugees per capita (approximately 1.5 million), it also hosts more than 200,000 Palestinian refugees and a further estimated 18,500 refugees from various states, a dangerously high number to be dis-included from counter-coronavirus measures. In addition, there are legal, financial, and language barriers that prevent refugees from accessing basic healthcare in a host country. However, it is not only in Lebanon that access to healthcare for refugees is an issue. The healthcare available when NGOs and governments seek to provide humanitarian aid in conflict settings is usually limited and performed in make-shift facilities. Now lower on the list of priorities for intervening states, these vulnerable populations are forgotten or resources simply cannot be extended beyond the protection of ‘us’.
Are refugees, asylum-seekers, migrants and stateless persons afforded the same rights as citizens of their host country?
The problem begins with human empathy and ends with the ratification of international human rights laws. Refugees and displaced persons are not viewed as equal to the citizens of the country in which they seek refuge, it is this deep-rooted and anti-refugee mind-set that needs to change if we are able to provide equal protection to all persons from the Covid-19 pandemic. Moving beyond the ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ rhetoric that has endlessly plagued media outlets is only the first step in treating refugees as equal human beings. In terms of the legal right to health under international law, there is often a conflict between the individual human rights of refugees, asylum-seekers, migrants and stateless persons and their migration status. States often abuse the connection between human rights afforded to these groups, with their right to access healthcare services at all points of their migration, and the right of states to defend their national security in denying said refugees access to their country and resources. Therefore, leaving these persons both stateless, and without refuge. If more countries were to accept the right to healthcare as a basic right for refugees, asylum-seekers, migrants and stateless persons at all stages of their displacement and migration process, there would be established rules within states that must be adhered to when providing for their protection during unprecedented instances like these.
It is particularly important that whilst we tackle the coronavirus pandemic, we ensure that states comply with international law, enforcing the indisputable right of refugees, asylum-seekers, migrants and stateless persons to health at each and every stage of their displacement and migration status. It is only when these persons are recognised as equal will they be provided with the basic human rights that every individual should be afforded, until then, arbitrary borders and citizenship status seem to prevent governments' newly found ‘strong-sense of global community’ from reaching out in aid of those considered ‘other’.
Author: Charlotte Gardner
Further reading:
COVID-19 Could Ravage Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Refugee Rights and Health: The Impact of COVID-19 on Refugee Camps
COVID-19 Impact on Refugees is Also Political
Water access critical to beating back COVID-19 spread in slum areas
UNHCR: Staying and delivering for refugees amid COVID-19 crisis
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