As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, a new report is warning that refugees and asylum seekers around the world will be disproportionately impacted by the virus, and that government responses need to consider these populations in order to avoid complete disaster. “The world’s 70 million displaced people — including refugees, asylum seekers, IDPs and other forced migrants — are among the most vulnerable.
Already, their displacement leaves them disadvantaged in many ways,” states the report released Monday by Refugees International, a non-profit advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. “The impact of the epidemic both exacerbates and is exacerbated by the conditions in which they live.