World Refugee Day – refugees contribute to efforts against COVID-19

18 June 2020

On World Refugee Day 2020, WHO/Europe highlights the lives, work and societal contributions of refugees and migrants to a united response to a common public health threat: the COVID-19 pandemic. Refugees and migrants play a critical role in societies’ response to COVID-19 and many across the European Region have found ways to contribute, such as working in the health sector – volunteering, supporting vulnerable members of their communities, producing masks and more.

UNCHR/Yasin Jama

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Before Yasin left Somalia 3 years ago, he studied medicine and qualified as a doctor. When he arrived in France, he founded a nongovernmental organization (NGO) to make a difference in his new home country. The pandemic gave the charity an opportunity to contribute to ensuring people’s health, by translating documents that provide information on the lockdown and advice on who to contact if a person is feeling unwell. In all, they have translated over 220 documents.

“During difficult times, the language barrier can become frustrating. We want to help,” he explains.

UNHCR/Fatima Ibrahim

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Syrian refugee and tailor, Rashid Ibrahim, uses his sewing machine to make masks to combat COVID-19 in Seddiner See near Potsdam, eastern Germany. Rashid and his family have lived in Seddiner See, 40 km south-west of the capital Berlin, since 2016. To show their gratitude for the protection and support they have received from the local community, Rashid and his family are sewing hundreds of face masks for staff and patients at hospitals and retirement homes.

Svetlana Palic

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Sewn masks were distributed to the staff of the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, and all refugees, asylum seekers and migrants staying in centres in the country.

All distributed masks are regularly washed at 90 degrees.

Svetlana Palic

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When it became known that there was a shortage of personal protective equipment on the market in Serbia, refugees across the country found a way to contribute to the fight against COVID-19. In the reception centre in Sombor, refugees began sewing masks made of fabric to help people protect themselves from the coronavirus.

Svetlana Palic

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Habib Soheli is a refugee from Iran, who has sewn up to 40 protective cloth masks each day during the COVID-19 pandemic in the reception centre in Bujanovac, southern Serbia.

Ahmed Ahmed

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“To address the health risks caused by COVID-19, I became part of a contact tracing team, helping patients recall everyone whom they had been in close contact with during the time they were infectious. I worked as a nurse but also assisted as a translator when we were interviewing Arabic-speaking patients. Being able to communicate freely without any language barriers and in a non-judgmental way is essential, especially as identifying possibly infected individuals is a time-sensitive matter. The sooner people are identified, the fewer people are at risk.”

Ahmed Ahmed

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“I have worked at the Izmir migrant health centre since August 2017, as part of the EU-funded SIHHAT project, a close collaboration between the Turkish Ministry of Health and WHO, aimed at improving the overall health status of the Syrian population in the country,” says Ahmed Ahmed, a refugee nurse from the Syrian Arab Republic.

Médecins du Monde/Theodoris Veronikis

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“Ensuring vulnerable people have access to health services is very gratifying and I continue my work despite COVID-19. The difference now, is that we wear protective equipment and that we must also reassure those who are worried about the virus.

“Despite the pandemic, we keep helping those in need of health care and supporting each other among colleagues with mutual respect.”

Médecins du Monde/Theodoris Veronikis

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“I fled Afghanistan almost 21 years ago. In 2001, I was living in a refugee shelter in Greece, where I began to study Greek and attend NGO-run seminars to become an interpreter and health mediator. Now, I am grateful I can help patients and doctors bridge the linguistic divide,” says Qadir Hossaaini, a 38-year-old refugee from Afghanistan.

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