International Migrants Day – migrants stepping up in the COVID-19 response

11 May 2022

On International Migrants Day 2021, WHO/Europe is showing the many ways refugees and migrants are contributing to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Many migrants across Europe are working on the frontlines in hospitals and care homes for older people, while others have stepped up and started volunteering. Every day, they are supporting health systems and communities at large. Let’s tell these stories.

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“I am very happy to work at Centro Astalli and to help in a period like this, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because when I arrived in Italy I was helped by Centro Astalli, now it’s time for me to help,” explains Dhaker, a Tunisian migrant. He works every day as a volunteer at the community centre where he prepares meals offered to people in need and helps at the registration desk. 

 

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Laryssa, a Belarussian doctor, worked many long shifts in a care home for older people in France to ensure that residents were well taken care of amidst the pandemic. Especially during the first lockdown, she described the working conditions as difficult.

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Shapoor, an Afghan cook, together with his restaurant team, distributed meals throughout the pandemic, bringing food to people in need in his neighbourhood in Italy.

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“When there was a problem in my village, everyone, especially the young people, had a moral duty to help and lend a hand. Now I have to give a hand to the inhabitants of the land that hosts me,” says Embalo, a migrant from Guinea Bissau. During the pandemic, Embalo and his friends sewed masks that were given out to his community in Italy.

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Virginia, a social worker from Kenya (on the right), co-founded a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that provides health counselling for African migrants in Germany. During the pandemic, the NGO provided translated health information on how to stay safer from COVID-19 and assisted migrants in receiving the vaccine.

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Hajar (on the right), originally from Morocco, is a volunteer at a community centre in Italy. She assists in registering people who come to receive medical assistance, food and clothes.

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