To enlarge a picture please click it. Tomorrow, Saturday, is World Refugee Day.When I hear or see on the news mentions of refugees and refugee camps, I often let them pass over me fairly glibly because they have become so commonplace. 'Reminder days' are designed to prod us out of glibness into a bit more reflection and bit more action so I've decided in this post to look deeper into the reality which lies behind the refugee news flashes. Let's start with total numbers. The UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) website provides this chart. Crossed a borderInternally Displaced People have not crossed a border. Refugees have. Refugees are defined as people who have left their own country to escape war, persecution or whatever else has driven them out. It's those 25.9 million green we are focussing on tomorrow. Not all of them live in refugee camps. According to UNHCR, some 67 percent of refugees, in 2015, (and that's a while back) lived in their own accommodation, leaving 33% in camps – say about 8.5 million. Refugee camps are spread all over the world. If you want to know the numbers and regional spread in detail I invite you to click here, to go to Wikipedia's list and see. But please come back! Biggest camp
But the virus has kicked inHere are charts I found yesterday, showing stats up to 14 June. Infections in blue; deaths in black. Tough times tough tasksWe all know that physical distancing is a key means of dealing with the virus but how can that be done in a populous camp? In Kutupalong they are certainly attempting it. See the painted circles for individuals to stand in while waiting at a water tap. Staff from the various aid agencies working in the camps and trained volunteers have been in recent weeks showing residents how and why hand washing is important. Home isolation is hardly possible in crowded living conditions but various agencies are building temporary isolation centres – maybe 10 more in the next few weeks. But there is a problem. A recent Devex report (see References below) puts it like this: 'In Cox's Bazar aid groups face a dilemma. In an effort to stall a COVID-19 outbreak, they must reduce staff numbers and scale back services. But what unintended consequences will this have on nearly 1 million of the world’s most vulnerable people?' Just an exampleThe Kutupalong/Cox's Bazar situation is just an example of what is happening world wide. I've foccussed on it because of it's size and because there seems to be no hope at present of a political situation which will see the Rohingya people returning to their homeland. These refugees are here for the long term. About half are children. What is their future? ResponseWorld Refugee Day in the midst of this very frightening pandemic is a prompt to ordinary citizens to give help. Agencies that work with refugees and those in particular that work in camps like Kutupalong say they are in dire need of funds. Equipment to deal with Covid 19 is in short supply – PEP for instance. So in whatever country you are reading this, I hope you might be prompted to seek out a suitable aid group and offer some support. UNHCR itself receives donations through this link. Should you want to target Kutupalong, (and I hope you do) a good option, is world Vision, here. □ I wish you well as you cope with whatever kind of Covid 19 environment you happen to be in. John McInnes Friday 19 June 2020 References: UNCHR stats Notable refugee camps by regions Devex International Development News on Kutupalong/ Cox's Bazar 10 June 2020 Photo credits: 2 landscapes Kutupalong, group of children – UNICEF NZ Physical distancing at water tap Kutupalong – World Vision NZ ##########
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