Despite the UN’s awareness of the importance of quick, widespread vaccination for the Coronavirus, refugees - and especially those without identity documents - are once again being left behind by global governments, writes Maria Valentina Bezzi.
On World Refugee Day 2021, António Guterres - the Secretary-General of the United Nations - declared that refugees are exposed “disproportionately” to the virus, and that we “have a duty to help [them] rebuild their lives.” In his speech, Guterres called upon nations worldwide to “include refugees in” - among other things - “healthcare,” as we “heal together when we all get the care we need.” Despite the UN evidently being aware of the exceptional struggles incurred by refugees as a result of the pandemic, access to immunization and vaccination plans for refugees is hindered in many countries. For those who happen to be stateless, the struggle is further heightened.
Currently, a mere 91 countries out of the 162 that the UNHCR “has been monitoring”, offer vaccinations to refugees. The global agency has relatedly warned that “countries should do more to remove barriers that limit access to vaccines for the world’s 82.4 million forcibly displaced people,” and some countries have indeed received praise for their proactivity. Portugal’s creation of a dedicated registration system for undocumented individuals was highlighted, but other nations whose efforts were commended have included Serbia and Moldova, for delivering vaccines to asylum centres, and Senegal and Cameroon, for allowing refugees to register for the vaccine in designated centres near their communities. Nevertheless, clear obstacles remain: many countries require people to register for vaccination services using identity documents, which many refugees lack, and the online vaccine registration services which have been set up in numerous states often ostracize people with no access to the internet, or who are not computer literate.
Stateless communities have struggled particularly as a result of their lack of documentation. According to the UNHCR, “there are at least 4.2 million people without a nationality, in 94 countries,” and yet the national immunization plans of 157 countries lack “clarity” on the accessibility of vaccinations for stateless people, a UN report has found. Stateless people are also hindered by the cost of medical attention and vaccinations, as they are “usually not covered by public healthcare schemes in the 212 countries and locations where COVID-19 immunisation has begun.”
Some countries have striven to bridge the inequality which separates stateless individuals from those with a verifiable legal identity. Spain, Portugal, Turkmenistan, Lebanon, Kuwait and Jordan were recognized for offering “universally inclusive” COVID-19 vaccination plans. The United Kingdom has further declared that undocumented migrants and stateless individuals will be able to access the vaccine, without their data being shared with the authorities.
The United Kingdom’s pledge not to share undocumented migrants’ data is imperative in an atmosphere which pushes refugees to be scared of deportation, to the point where getting the vaccine could result in greater harm than good for them. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has documented such concerns in Malaysia, where the government’s “raids on irregular migrants are deterring people fearful of arrest and deportation from getting vaccinated for Covid-19.” As per Linda Lakhdhir, HRW Asia legal advisor, “the threat of arrest and possible deportation of irregular migrants will force an already fearful population further into hiding, leaving them at risk of contracting Covid-19 and spreading it to others.”
This issue is far from isolated. Even in the UK, despite its pledge, Forbes has highlighted that “more than 40 percent of migrants in the U.K. were reluctant to access healthcare services,” with that figure rising to “56 percent for people with refugee status,” over concerns that their data will be shared with the government. According to Kawsar Zaman, barrister and vaccine uptake campaigner, “[the UK’s] entire national vaccination effort is at jeopardy if we do not reach the estimated 1.4 million undocumented migrants in a timely manner.”
Over a year ago, the World Health Organisation warned us that the Coronavirus “does not distinguish between races or ethnicities.” In fact, it does not distinguish between political status either - it is time for governments worldwide to reflect this.
*Image Credits: Refugees and migrants sit in a waiting room after receiving COVID-19 vaccinations on the island of Lesbos in Greece. Photo by: Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters