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Syrian refugees are vulnerable to Covid-19

SHAFAQNA| By Leila Yazdani: The war in Syria shows no signs of ending. People continue to flee, and refugees in neighbouring countries are now losing hope that they can return. Now in its ninth year, the Syrian refugee crisis is the largest refugee and displacement crisis of our time. Now Syrian refugees are especially vulnerable to Covid-19.

As Syria enters its 10th year of conflict, an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in the northwest of the country where 1 million people have been displaced by fighting and shelling since December 2019. This is the largest mass displacement since the start of the conflict in March 2011 and 80% of the displaced are children and women. More than 11 million people continue to be in need of humanitarian assistance across Syria.

The Syrian crisis threatens world once more. But this time, something is different. Despite global attention to the challenges posed by the coronavirus and increasing calls to support low- and middle-income countries, refugees are largely ignored. A global approach is needed to avoid more tragic loss of life.

It is not even clear what, if any, resources are available to refugees to seek proper information, let alone proper care, Npr reported.

Muhammad H.Zaman, professor of biomedical engineering and international health at Boston University said that when I recently contacted a friend who helps provide primary care to refugees at the Syrian-Lebanese border to ask about pandemic-related anxiety in the camp, he asked me a question in response: How do you wash your hands several times a day when there is no access to clean water in your entire camp?

According to nbcnews, Turkey’s ambassador to the United States, Serdar Kilic, said that trying to prevent the spread of the virus in refugee camps in Syria would be a “mission impossible.”

More than 5.6 million Syrians have been forced to flee their country since 2011 and another 6.1 million have been driven from their homes but remain trapped inside the country. Nearly 12 million people in Syria need humanitarian assistance.

The recent outbreak violence in Idlib, northwest Syria, is forcing families to flee their homes at an alarming rate.  Approximately 900,000 people have been uprooted from their homes since December 2019, with an increase in mid-February of more than 100,000 people in less than a week. The majority – about 80 percent – of those who are fleeing Idlib and the surrounding areas are women and children.

The vast majority of Syrian refugees have found safety in neighboring countries like Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon But as the war drags on, neighbours are sealing their borders.

Less than 300,000 of the 5.6 million Syrian refugees who have fled to neighboring countries live in refugee camps. The vast majority of Syrian refugees live in host communities – primarily in urban settings – in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. However, living outside of refugee camps does not necessarily mean success or stability for Syrian refugees. An estimated 70 percent of Syrian refugees live in poverty, while unemployment and uneven access to education and other basic services persist.

Some 3.6 million Syrian refugees live in Turkey, having fled their homeland’s civil war in search of safety. Syrians can be found living and working in cities across Turkey Theatlantic reported.

Lebanon was a popular way station. It had always been easy to cross the Lebanese border, and from there Syrian refugees with the money could either fly or seek passage by boat to Turkey – seen as the best gateway for illegal migration to Europe due to its proximity to Greece, Refworld reported.

But Lebanon ended its open-door policy for Syrians in January 2015 when it introduced new regulations requiring them to apply for difficult-to-obtain visas or a Lebanese sponsor before being admitted.

656,000 Syrian refugees are in Jordan. Some 120,000 live in refugee camps, including Za’atari and Azraq.

 250,000 Syrian refugees are in Iraq. Most are in the Kurdistan region in the north. 130,000 Syrian refugees are in Egypt.

At the peak of the European migrant crisis in 2015, 1.3 million Syrians requested asylum in Europe. But the number of new asylum seekers has declined significantly since then.

An EU country, Greece, is suspending its obligations under international law and EU law and carrying out inhumane acts against asylum seekers–shooting at those seeking refuge at its border on land and in the sea.

Among those most vulnerable, both now and through the course of the war, are young Syrians. Taken out of their country by parents hopeful that a short conflict would soon lead to resolution and freedom.

For many Syrian children, all they have known is war.

Their grim circumstances have had an extreme effect on their mental, physical, and social health, jeopardizing the future of children who will one day need to rebuild Syria.

As desperation grows, the UN reports increasing exploitation of women and girls, separation of children from their families, and increasing rates of malnutrition, Ec.europa told.

The Syrian conflict has created one of the worst humanitarian crises. Families are struggling to survive inside Syria, or make a new home in neighboring countries. Others risked their lives on the way to Europe, hoping to find acceptance and opportunity. And harsh winters and hot summers make life as a refugee even more difficult.

But one fact is simple: Life is extremely difficult for refugees and, millions of Syrians need our help.

 

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