Illustrated story from Eastleigh, Kenya: populations at risk of COVID-19 struggle to protect themselves

The global situation concerning COVID-19 is dire but it could get decidedly worse if the coronavirus starts infecting more of the world’s most vulnerable populations and communities who have limited access to prevention and health care, the Executive Director of UNICEF, Henrietta Fore, states. Even without a pandemic, those living as refugees, migrants, internally displaced people (IDP) or people living in slums face immense barriers to accessing health, water and sanitation systems. A 19-year-old girl, Asilia*, who lives in a slum area in Eastleigh, Nairobi, Kenya, provides an insight into what life looks like in one of such situations.

Closed borders and COVID-19, the difficulty for refugees

The world’s 70 million displaced people are one of the groups most vulnerable to COVID-19 while having the least tools to combat it. With COVID-19 spreading across the globe many countries have closed their borders, including for refugees. At present, 93% of the world population lives in countries with border restrictions for non-citizens and 39% live in countries completely closed to non-citizens. Countries that have traditionally welcomed many refugees are closing their borders and reception facilities. This has resulted in uncertain and dangerous situations for refugees. Meanwhile, organizations like the World Health Organizations (WHO) question the long-term merits of closing the border.