Silent victims, refugees and the coronavirus storm

What you need to know:

  • Movement restrictions and other necessary containment measures are curtailing the ability of displaced populations to earn an income.
  • Pope Francis is among those who have endorsed this appeal to combatants in the world’s hotspots to put down their arms to stem the “the Covid-19 storm.

Displaced people, estimated at 70 million globally, are the silent victims of the novel coronavirus.

Today, the vast majority of the 212 countries and territories with confirmed cases of Covid-19 are also hosting victims of forced displacement.

At the beginning of April 6, 2020, 96 refugee-hosting countries reported local transmission of the virus.

The Covid-19 storm is aggravating the plight of refugees, internally displaced persons, stateless persons who were, in the first place, forced to flee their homes by persecution, conflict, violence, terrorism and human rights violations and now likely to be hit the hardest by the pandemic.

The situation becomes even riskier because 84 per cent of the world’s refugees are hosted among poor host communities in low or middle-income nations with weaker health, water and sanitation systems.

More than 25.2 million refugees and internally displaced people are in Africa, hosted in 52 African countries which have reported Covid-19 cases.

FOOD RATIONS

The Horn of Africa region, which has the lion’s share of Africa’s displaced people (4.6 million refugees, 8.1 million internally displaced persons, and 451, 000 refugee returnees), already has over 400 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

So far, the good news is that the region has no reported cases amongst the displaced populations.

However, measures to stem the spread of Covid-19 are shrinking the asylum space. The closure of borders of by regional countries is reducing access to asylum.

Anti-Covid-19 restrictions pose the risk of refoulement as asylum seekers risk being returned to the countries of origin. Further, most repatriation activities have been suspended.

Internally, the movement of refugees has been restricted to reduce the chances of infections. In Kenya, the Refugee Affairs Secretariat has suspended the issuance of movement passes and no movements between refugee camps and Nairobi.

The pandemic is eroding the socio-economic well-being and capacities of refugees, IDPs and hosting communities in the region, undermining their access to food and livelihoods.

Sixty per cent of refugees in the region are already experiencing food ration cuts.

SITTING DUCKS

Movement restrictions and other necessary containment measures are curtailing the ability of displaced populations to earn an income.

The most affected are refugees eking a living through cross-border trade.

Moreover, women are likely to be disproportionately affected by these restrictions as key drivers of the agricultural sector and informal economy, both of which are being severely undermined by the crisis.

Responses to Covid-19 is further lowering refugee access to education. One million refugee children in the region are out of school, which have been closed to prevent the spread of Covid.

Distance learning and digital learning programmes offer the solution. Covid-19 is overstretching, and compounding crisis of, the health sector in refugee camps in Africa.

Sheltered in camps with few or no trained personnel, protective materials for health personnel, equipment necessary to detect, test and treat complicated cases, medication and adequate facilities for isolation, refugees are sitting ducks for Covid-19.

The emerging comprehensive response to Covid-19, which incorporates displaced people, need sit on five planks.

First is the ongoing high-level campaign to silence the guns in countries affected by violent conflict, which also generate refugee flows.

“There should be only one fight in our world today: our shared battle against Covid-19,” declares UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

SILENCE GUNS

Pope Francis is among those who have endorsed this appeal - made on March 23 - to combatants in the world’s hotspots to put down their arms to stem the “the Covid-19 storm, now spreading to all conflict areas in refugee-generating countries.

The second plank is the imperative to curb the spread the virus in refugee camps. These are measures needed to reduce overcrowding and facilitate physical or social distancing and ensure good hygiene conditions in camps.

Inclusive frameworks of delivering support to refugees and host communities are needed to cope with the Covid-19 crisis.

This demands social protection schemes by host governments. Urban refugees will require cash-based assistance or “food stamps” to meet basic needs.

Reducing infections in camps will require supply of water, soap and sanitisers at handwashing stations.

Related to this, in crowded camps, the processes of distributing soap, food and other items have to be readjusted to ensure that social distancing standards are upheld.

The existing healthcare capacity in camps need to be expanded to cope with possible Covid-19 infections.

This calls for increasing beds in existing clinics, building field clinics and isolation wards, as well as providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to health workers.

AWARENESS

Temperatures of new refugee arrivals have to be taken and monitored over two weeks for symptoms. This is already happening in eastern Sudan.

Enhancing refugee awareness of the threat of Covid-19 is also critical. In Kenya, refugees need to be fully informed of Covid-19 information and prevention measures, through TVs, radios or through mobile phones messages.

The third plank is increased cooperation and coordinated action by multiple stakeholders to effectively respond to and curb the spread of novel coronavirus.

Displaced populations should be integrated into national preparedness and response measures at the national, regional and global responses to Covid-19.

The fourth plank is the need to enhance the capacity of local and regional actors to respond to Covid-19 and its displacement impacts in sustainable ways.

An example of this local capacity is IGAD’s new comprehensive regional response strategy, action plan and an emergency fund to address the pandemic in the Horn region, which also take into account vulnerable groups of people, including refugees.

Finally, it is urgent that adequate resources are mobilised to support the programmes of African governments, local non-state actors and international agencies to stop the spread of the virus, including its impact on forcibly displaced populations in the region.

Professor Peter Kagwanja is the Chief Executive at the Africa Policy Institute and former Government Adviser