Syrian refugees hit hard by
COVID-19 economic downturn
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| Syrian refugees in Lebanon (ANSA) |
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) notes that the
economic downturn has pushed hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees in the
Middle East into an ever more desperate situation and has increased their
humanitarian needs.
By Robin Gomes
The number of vulnerable Syrian refugees who lack the basic
resources to survive in exile has dramatically surged as a result of the public
health emergency, according to the United Nations.
“The refugee-hosting communities in countries in Syria’s
neighbourhood experience similar hardships. Many refugees have lost what were
already meagre incomes, forcing them to cut down on the most basic needs,
including food and medication,” warned UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic.
Addressing an online press briefing on Tuesday at the UN
Office in Geneva, he said that refugee households were taking on additional
debt and were not able to pay their rent anymore. “Serious protection
risks are growing, including risks of child labour, gender-based violence,
early marriage and other forms of exploitation.”
5.5 million Syrian refugees in five Middle Eastern
countries
Since the start of the pandemic, Mahecic said UNHCR has
provided emergency cash support to nearly 200,000 additional refugees in Egypt,
Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey who previously did not receive financial aid,
along with other efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. The five
countries alone host more than 5.5 million Syrians, the biggest refugee group
in the world.
Nine out of ten Syrian refugees in the region, Mahecic
noted, live in towns or villages and not in camps, mostly in low-income areas.
The UNHCR spokesperson commended the host communities who have shown great
solidarity with the refugees, despite suffering “loss of livelihoods as a
result the COVID-19 pandemic."
Even prior to the pandemic, UNHCR pointed out, the majority
of Syrian refugees in the five countries have been living below the poverty
line.
The UN’s refugee agency has also expressed concern about the
humanitarian situation of returnees, more than six million internally displaced
Syrians and other vulnerable groups inside Syria. Prior to the latest downturn,
over 80 per cent of Syrians lived below the poverty line, according to UN
estimates.
More than nine years of this crisis have left 11 million
people in need of humanitarian assistance.
25.9 million refugees worldwide
According to UNHCR, there are at least 70.8 million people
around the world have been forced to flee their homes, of whom nearly 25.9
million are refugees. Others include 41.3 million internally displaced
people (IDPs) and 3.5 million asylum seekers. Roughly every two seconds, a
person is forcibly displaced as a result of conflict or persecution.
To draw the attention of the world to the cause of refugees,
the UN observes World Refugee Day on June 20, which this year occurs on
Saturday, this week.
Pope Francis - World Day of Migrants and Refugees
The Catholic Church has migrants and refugees as one of its
several outreach programmes. Since 1914, it has been observing the World
Day of Migrants and Refugees. It is now celebrated on the last Sunday of
September.
“Forced like Jesus Christ to flee," is the theme
that Pope Francis has chosen for this year's observance which focuses on
the pastoral care of IDPs.
Millions of men, women and children who are internally
displaced by conflict, poverty and climate change, the Pope says in his message
for the September 27 observance, are suffering precariousness,
abandonment, marginalization and rejection as a result of Covid-19.
In his message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2018,
the Pope had urged Christians to respond to the crisis of people in movement
with welcome, protection, promotion and integration.
In addition to these, this year he suggests six pairs of
cause-and-effect actions in response to the IDP emergency:
Know in order to understand
Be close in order to serve
Listen in order to be reconciled
Share in order to grow
Be involved in order to promote
Cooperate in order to build
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