The COVID-19 pandemic will hit the most vulnerable communities, including asylum seekers in refugee camps, the hardest. Throughout Europe, thousands of refugees live in densely-populated areas and under extremely poor safety and hygiene conditions. Limited access to water, sanitation and scarce socio-economic resources make the implementation of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (such as social distancing) extremely difficult, if not impossible. In these circumstances, the disease is predicted to spread like wildfire in camps across Europe.
In Northern France, the remaining volunteers working with refugees in Calais have warned that the virus is spreading quickly in makeshift camps where over 1000 people live with little to no access to sanitation, food and water. “Although the numbers are still low, there is no way to contain the spread in these terrible conditions… refugees can’t use the mitigation methods the rest of society are practising, like social distancing. Without these, the spread of the disease could be exponential and we estimate that half the population could be infected within four weeks.” said Clare Moseley, founder of aid organisation Care4Calais.
Meanwhile, in the Ellwangen camp in southern Germany, some 250 people – nearly half of the camp’s population – have tested positive for COVID-19. Despite the risk from the virus, refugees have no choice but to continue sharing facilities in close quarters. Following these cases, the camp has been in lockdown since the beginning of April.
On the Greek islands, concerns are mounting for refugee camps which are notoriously over-crowded and under-resourced. Outbreaks in the Malakasa and Ritsona camps, two of 30 refugee facilities on the Greek mainland, have greatly raised the alarm. Both have since been quarantined. In Ritsona, near Athens, 20 inhabitants tested positive with the virus. All who tested positive were asymptomatic, which has been attributed to their young age. The majority of refugees living in Ritsona are under 40, giving some optimism that such youthful demographics may fare better than a standard-spread population under the shadow of COVID-19, which disproportionately affects the elderly. However, the lack of quality medical care will be a disaster for serious cases. “This virus does not have any borders,” said Parwana Amiri, a 16-year-old from Afghanistan living in the Ritsona camp, to Al Jazeera correspondents. "While you stay at home, we have to stay in the camp where there is no guarantee of health safety."
Though Greece has had relative success in containing the spread of the pandemic, if the virus spreads in camps such as Moria, which houses 20 000 people in a space designed for under 3000, it will be almost impossible to contain the virus or to provide sufficient medical care to those affected by it. In an environment where people are housed in tents often just 2 feet apart, social distancing is out of the question.
Amidst the crisis, calls for the EU to repatriate refugees by humanitarians are growing. In a press release the 8th April, the European commission laid out plans to support global efforts to combat the virus, which include an aid package of €15.6 billion. These funds are allocated amongst the most vulnerable communities, including the western Balkans and African nations. In this press release, Janez Lenarčič, Commissioner for Crisis Management, warned: “The impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the most fragile countries, migrants and the most vulnerable people is likely to be dramatic… That is why we need to respond vigorously to the public health emergency, make sure humanitarian actors continue to have access to carry out their life-saving assistance and support transport and logistic for key humanitarian operations.” However, in this release there is notably no mention of repatriation, nor of direct aid.
Meanwhile, the UNHCR is expanding assistance, is working with governments and humanitarian partners to ensure that refugees and internally displaced people are included in national COVID-19 response plans; including calls to repatriate refugees much more quickly. In Germany, some refugees have begun to be repatriated, following prior EU commitments. In April, 47 unaccompanied child refugees arrived in Lower Saxony from the Greek camps of Lesbos, Samos, and Chios. EU member states had agreed to take 1600 refugee minors from Greece; however, this has been delayed due to the pandemic. In comparison to these 50 vulnerable children and adolescents, more than 200,000 German holidaymakers were flown home via the Federal Foreign Office's return program.
Despite some attempts at aid, the picture across Europe is one of neglect; it is clear, in times of crisis, that refugees have sunk in the policy agenda as governments scramble to control the pandemic. As lockdown begins to lift across Europe, the question remains whether European governments will show true commitment to protecting the most vulnerable.
