Refugees: over 79.5 million people cannot be left alone

The coronavirus still affects most countries in the world. The pandemic has not distinguished between developed and developing countries, between solvent economies with model health systems and indebted regions and unprotected populations. However, the latter are suffering the most from the consequences of being out of work and having no access to food or hygiene products. The refugee population, far from their countries of origin, is one of the most affected by the pandemic.

"COVID-19 is a high risk in a refugee camp and it is difficult to comply with safety protocols and distance," explains missionary Lazar Arasu who works in the Palabek refugee settlement in northern Uganda. More than 56,000 people live in this settlement and it is, like other refugee camps, a high-risk place.

More than 79.5 million people in the world live far from their places of origin. More than 34 million do so in another country, becoming refugees. Every day 37,000 people are forced to leave their homes and the coronavirus has not stopped this situation. The fear of contagion and an outbreak among refugees is compounded by a lack of food, a lack of access to health care, the closure of schools and parishes and the obligation to stay at home in confinement.

In the Palabek refugee settlement in Uganda, for example, there are about 30,000 South Sudanese children and "now they have nothing to do. After the closure of the schools and the difficult situation they are facing, they are having anxiety problems and their poor quality of life has worsened," explains Arasu.

A few days ago, the first positive result was detected in the settlement of a person who travelled from Southern Sudan. "The settlement only has two health centres and an ambulance, but for a few days many more came from the city to take away more than 40 people with whom the sick person had had contact, so let's hope it doesn't spread," says the Salesian missionary in Palabek Ubaldino Andrade. Also, due to the pandemic, food rations for the refugees have been reduced by 30%. "With what the refugees receive, it is impossible to survive," the Salesian missionaries stress.

Palabek is an example of the situation of the more than 79.5 million people who have to leave their homes because of violence or persecution. On World Refugee Day, which is celebrated next Saturday, June 20, SALESIAN MISSIONS wants to ask the international community not to leave them alone. "We cannot again fail these people who have nothing, who left behind their homes, their family, their friends... to save their lives. We must be a refuge," warns José Antonio San Martín, the organization's director. MISIONES SALESIANAS they serve more than 400,000 refugees and displaced people. They work in camps like Kakuma, in Kenya, or Palabek in Uganda, but we also attend to people on the borders like Mexico with the United States or in Colombia and Peru with the displaced people of Venezuela. Also in Egypt with South Sudanese refugees, in Turkey with refugees from Afghanistan, Syria and Pakistan and in Europe offering alternatives to people who arrive with difficulties, especially unaccompanied minors (MENAS).