Words by Smiley Team
Long before the Coronavirus pandemic, refugees across the world were facing dire situations in lacking sanitation, healthcare and education. Now, facing a global pandemic, lives of refugees are in even greater danger as coronavirus has the potential to spread rapidly throughout camps. That is why charities like Help Refugees have mobilised to support refugees on the ground in this time of crisis.
‘Our model is simple.’ says Hannah Green, Greece Field Manager. ‘We go where the need is greatest, find the local organisations doing the most effective work and give them what they need to help people, whether that’s funding, material aid or volunteers.’ With this model, Help Refugees have been able to reach around one million people across 100+ projects in 14 countries.
Governments have advised people to wash hands regularly and to self-isolate, but for refugees, this is almost impossible because of the lack of sanitation and overcrowding. Hannah notes that ‘Current conditions in refugee camps would make preventing a rapid spread of the virus impossible. Not only is there vastly insufficient shower, toilet, and hand-washing facilities, but there is also a desperate lack of healthcare, often with only one camp doctor treating upwards of 7000 people.’
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A migrant family wearing handmade protective face masks stand next to their tent in the camp of Moria in the island of Lesbos on March 28, 2020 as as the country is under lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus. (Photo by Manolis LAGOUTARIS)[/caption]
Choose Love’s partners have been on the ground distributing thousands of hygiene items, installing wash facilities and building isolation units, as well as providing information to residents - but this has barely scratched the surface due to the scale of the problem.
Refugees need support more than ever during this time of crisis, and this week Help Refugees launched an emergency fundraising appeal to help continue their work, with the money going directly to their partners on the ground.
Donations can be made at https://helprefugees.org/ and the money will be used to provide tens of thousands of hygiene kits, increased medical support, emergency isolation accommodation and sanitation improvements in camps across the globe.
If you are unable to financially support, Help Refugees would love it if you could tell others about the campaign.
By Ellen Jones
Photographs by Manolis-Lagoutaris
