Daniel Cragan

Professor Phillips

English 170 22

9 November 2020

How COVID Has Been Affecting The Refugee Crisis

        A “storm” has taken over the world in the last year. At the start of 2020, we all heard about the Coronavirus (COVID-19, COVID). When it came to America, the sense of fear and panic was unprecedented and unrivaled, at least in my lifetime. Yet, another great issue, one that has been here far longer than COVID, causes an unprecedented and unrivaled fear for those in the middle of the conflict. This conflict is the refugee crisis. While it has gained attention in the news, the refugee crisis has fared worse than imaginable due to COVID. Many people, myself included, have had our lives impacted greatly from the virus; this being said, imagine having no home, have seen family members killed in front of you, having to walk without food and water for days, having no certainty of life, and then come to a camp where you are supposed to be helped, just to contract COVID. This situation is hellish and inhumane on many tiers. However, I believe COVID-19 has been a “double edged sword” for the refugee crisis by worsening the state of life refugees trudge through, while simultaneously helping not just refugees, but all people as new healthcare ideas are constantly being formed.

        COVID has worsened the state of the refugee crisis by slowing down and nearly halting aid sent to many camps. In a camp in Dadaab, some refugees “ were already frustrated with the lack of progress in finding durable solutions”, referring to the lack of medical spending and relief put into permanent clinics and doctors in refugee camps (MSF 1). Doctors who spend a lot of time in volunteer run camps generally aren’t paid at all, and depending on the time spent overseas, don’t make too much back home for what they do. This affects the lives of the doctors, and causes many professionals to stay away from helping at camps. The doctors in the countries with the refugee camps already have the general population to deal with, and aren’t able to lend assistance to the volunteers. Coupled with a situation “where the meagre humanitarian assistance they depend on has been further reduced amid donor concerns of widening funding gaps”, being a refugee in this time is harsher than ever (MSF 1). Not only can doctors not work in the pandemic, but aid workers, people who help teach refugees, people who set up programs, etc., are all facing major challenges. Face to face meetings with refugees are limited, people who need reassurance aren’t getting it, and the people who are supposed to be reassuring others aren’t even sure themselves if they can do it. A situation that has been bad for decades, combined with a lack of help in the first place, is now in an exponential amount of trouble. How do we begin to fix it?

        To start fixing the problem, we can look at and assess how we have helped refugees in the past. Chuah Siew Moo, and Ann Nicole Nunis, two volunteers who help refugees in Southeast Asia, say that:

“A majority of the frontline workers dealing with the HIV and AIDS epidemic are from the healthcare or NGO industry. This includes doctors, nurses and anyone involved in direct care of the clients. Social workers, outreach workers and volunteers handle the pre-test procedures and post-diagnosis support such as peer counselling, group support, and social welfare” (Siew Moo, Nunis 97). 

The struggles of refugees are a common topic, but I haven’t heard much about the struggles of the volunteers, other than the basic phrase “we need more help”. To hear the specifics of what the frontline workers have to go through is the starting point for analyzing solutions.  Workers in Refugee camps are tasked with finding the medical needs of those who come into the camp, and monitor how they may get better or worse. Asking someone who needs medication if they are sick, but is allergic to types of penicillin, are most likely to get worse if they are given medication their body doesn’t accept. Having to fill and file paperwork for tests, begin tests, and get results is a time consuming and expensive process that needs to be shortened and made cheaper. With COVID around, this has to have become an even more arduous process, as before they can test for other diseases. Also, asking for refugees to quarantine in a place that is already run down and barely held together is a near impossible task. While some people may claim that asking them to quarantine after a long and difficult journey is inhumane, it is also necessary for their safety. COVID seemingly spreads far faster than most other deadly diseases, and their symptoms are worsened if they have medical issues. This describes the state that many refugees are in; malnutrition, lack of water, severe injury, infections etc., are all able to weaken the immune system greatly. The authors go on to explain that the people who deal with diseases like HIV/AIDS are well versed in what they do, but COVID is so new that scientists can only theorize. I wouldn’t want someone treating me based on theorizing what the cures are, but refugees may not have a choice. The flip side to this is that if no treatment is done, the result could be just as bad. Taking in refugees has also been a big talking point, as well as sending relief in a time when even first world countries need tests and medicine. Another point that supports the safety and well being of refugees comes from an scholarly source explaining the journey that refugees take to cross the mediterranean. “The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) reports “only” 1691 confirmed deaths in the desert; however, it has been suggested that these numbers significantly underestimate the number of those killed with actual numbers at least three times higher”, explains the take that the United Nations (UN) has on the crisis pre-COVID (Tourner 1). A disregard for the lives of 1691 confirmed deaths and the thousands more that don’t get reported is a sad point of view the world’s leading activist group has. Yet, post COVID they say, “COVID-19 has given us confidence in digital technologies. They have proved to be highly successful in promoting remote access to asylum systems and referral and counseling services” (UN 1). This begins the search for solutions that the volunteers and refugees need to conquer the problems they face.

        Digital technologies can help volunteers and doctors treat refugees in a more timely manner than what is currently available. A technology that has come to light due to COVID, brough to form by the need for patients to get checkups while not being in contact, is Telehealth. Simply put, telehealth is a doctor’s way to see patients through a screen (ipad, samsung, iphone, computer, etc.) and diagnose them, while staying safe from COVID. “It is essential. We live in a world of technology, so necessary it will decrease time, effort, and cost.” CBR managers reported no foreseeable negative impacts to using this system in Jordanian CBR centers”, managers told Mitchell-Gillespie when working with Telehealth (Mitchell-Gillespie 7). Telehealth is a means to take the technology we use all the time, and turn it into something that can greatly help the general population. Yet, refugees don’t have access to this. Instead, a clinical application could be used in hand built cubicles that the refugees can use to talk to a doctor. The language barrier isn’t an issue either, as telehealth has a built in translator that is state of the art. I can personally speak to the credibility of this solution, as my own doctors office recommended me to speak with my physician using Telehealth. The technology did it’s job, and I can only imagine how helpful this will be in aiding the volunteers who face the refugee crisis.

        However, some people will rebut the aid, saying that people who are citizens need the aid first. While this argument does have some merit, you are a citizen in a country and you expect to be respected by your country. But when someone who is less fortunate comes along, it becomes a moral argument as to who should be helped. There is no real right answer, and in a perfect world, everyone should receive the same healthcare. In an interview with the director of the New Internationalism Project, Phyllis Bennis, she says, “Now the first community spread has happened, and it means that the already-devastated healthcare system in Gaza is going to be completely overwhelmed and unable to deal with the crisis” (Jackson 1). Gaza has been facing harsh living conditions for a while, and Bennet says the country has essentially been on lockdown since 2007, and the COVID pandemic has finally taken a foothold. It is in times like these when people must think about the global community, and those who can afford to help those in need, should go out and donate to organizations that can help the less fortunate afford healthcare.

        In a digitalized world, and an interconnected world, we are all closer to one another than we think. This is because most people can read the same posts, watch the same news, and learn of the same events happening around the world. Technology is being incorporated into healthcare in new and creative ways, and the less fortunate, especially refugees, have more light at the end of the path than before. But this is only capable if we all recognize that if we have the luxury to help others first, we should take the initiative and do it. The COVID pandemic has two sides to it; one side is of despair and hardships, and the other is of hope and freedom. We are “turning over a new leaf” in the course of the Pandemic, and hopefully we have lived through the worst of two “storms”.

 

 

Works Cited

Jackson, Janine, et al. “’Foreign Policy of This Country Has to Reject US Exceptionalism’.” FAIR, 8 Sept. 2020, fair.org/home/foreign-policy-of-this-country- has-to-reject-us-exceptionalism/. 

“Kenya: COVID-19 Further Fuels Mental Health Crisis in Dadaab | MSF.” Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International, www.msf.org/kenya-covid-19-further-fuels-mental-health-crisis-dadaab. Accessed 27 Oct. 2020.

Mitchell-Gillespie, Bria, et al. “Sustainable Support Solutions for Community-Based Rehabilitation Workers in Refugee Camps: Piloting Telehealth Acceptability and Implementation.” Globalization & Health, vol. 16, no. 1, Sept. 2020, pp. 1–14. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1186/s12992-020-00614-y.

Mooi, Chuah Siew, and Ann Nicole Nunis. “The Experience of Volunteers and Frontline Workers in Marginalized Communities Across Southeast Asia.” Multicultural Counseling Applications for Improved Mental Healthcare Services, edited by Anasuya Jegathevi Jegathesan and Siti Salina Abdullah, Medical Information Science Reference, 2019, pp. 93-111. Advances in Psychology, Mental Health, and Behavioral Studies. Gale eBooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX7786400015/GVRL?u=newpaltz&sid=GVRL&xid=7c578d2c. Accessed 27 Oct. 2020.

Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. “COVID-19 Crisis Underlines Need for Refugee Solidarity and Inclusion.” UNHCR, www.unhcr.org/news/latest/ 2020/10/5f7dfbc24/covid-19-crisis-underlines-need-refugee-solidarity-inclusion.html.


Tourneur, Isabel, et al. “Health and Asylum Seekers in Europe.” World Medical Journal, vol. 61, no. 3, Oct. 2015, pp. 89–97. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=110607852&site=ehost-live.

 

 

 

 

Daniel Cragan

Professor Phillips

English 170 22

10 November 2020

How COVID Has Been Affecting The Refugee Crisis (Draft 2)

        A “storm” has taken over the world in the last year. At the start of 2020, we all heard about the Coronavirus (COVID-19, COVID). When it came to America, the sense of fear and panic was unprecedented and unrivaled, at least in my lifetime. Yet, another great issue, one that has been here far longer than COVID, causes an unprecedented and unrivaled fear for those in the middle of the conflict. This conflict is the refugee crisis. While it has gained attention in the news, the refugee crisis has fared worse than imaginable due to COVID. Many people, myself included, have had our lives impacted greatly from the virus; this being said, imagine having no home, have seen family members killed in front of you, having to walk without food and water for days, having no certainty of life, and then come to a camp where you are supposed to be helped, just to contract COVID. This situation is hellish and inhumane on many tiers. However, I believe COVID-19 has been a “double edged sword” for the refugee crisis by worsening the state of life refugees trudge through, while simultaneously allowing doctors to create new healthcare ideas that help not just refugees, but all people.

       COVID has worsened the state of the refugee crisis by slowing down and nearly halting aid sent to many camps. In a camp in Dadaab, some refugees “ were already frustrated with the lack of progress in finding durable solutions”, referring to the lack of medical spending and relief put into permanent clinics and doctors in refugee camps (MSF 1). Doctors who spend a lot of time in volunteer run camps generally aren’t paid at all, and depending on the time spent overseas, don’t make too much back home for what they do. This affects the lives of the doctors, and causes many professionals to stay away from helping at camps. The doctors in the countries with the refugee camps already have the general population to deal with, and aren’t able to lend assistance to the volunteers. Coupled with a situation “where the meagre humanitarian assistance they depend on has been further reduced amid donor concerns of widening funding gaps”, being a refugee in this time is harsher than ever (MSF 1). Not only can doctors not work in the pandemic, but aid workers, people who help teach refugees, people who set up programs, etc., are all facing major challenges. Face to face meetings with refugees are limited, people who need reassurance aren’t getting it, and the people who are supposed to be reassuring others aren’t even sure themselves if they can do it. A situation that has been bad for decades, combined with a lack of help in the first place, is now in an exponential amount of trouble. How do we begin to fix it?

        To start fixing the problem, we can look at and assess how we have helped refugees in the past. Chuah Siew Moo, and Ann Nicole Nunis, two volunteers who help refugees in Southeast Asia, say that, “A majority of the frontline workers dealing with the HIV and AIDS epidemic are from the healthcare or NGO industry. This includes doctors, nurses and anyone involved in direct care of the clients” (Siew Moo, Nunis 97). The struggles of refugees are a common topic, but I haven’t heard much about the struggles of the volunteers, other than the basic phrase “we need more help”. To hear the specifics of what the frontline workers have to go through is the starting point for analyzing solutions.  Workers in Refugee camps are tasked with finding the medical needs of those who come into the camp, and monitor how they may get better or worse. Asking someone who needs medication if they are sick, but is allergic to types of penicillin, are most likely to get worse if they are given medication their body doesn’t accept. Having to fill and file paperwork for tests, begin tests, and get results is a time consuming and expensive process that needs to be shortened and made cheaper. With COVID around, this has to have become an even more arduous process, as before they can test for other diseases. Also, asking for refugees to quarantine in a place that is already run down and barely held together is a near impossible task. While some people may claim that asking them to quarantine after a long and difficult journey is inhumane, it is also necessary for their safety. COVID seemingly spreads far faster than most other deadly diseases, and their symptoms are worsened if they have medical issues. This describes the state that many refugees are in; malnutrition, lack of water, severe injury, infections etc., are all able to weaken the immune system greatly. The authors go on to explain that the people who deal with diseases like HIV/AIDS are well versed in what they do, but COVID is so new that scientists can only theorize. I wouldn’t want someone treating me based on theorizing what the cures are, but refugees may not have a choice. The flip side to this is that if no treatment is done, the result could be just as bad. Taking in refugees has also been a big talking point, as well as sending relief in a time when even first world countries need tests and medicine. Another point that supports the safety and well being of refugees comes from an scholarly source explaining the journey that refugees take to cross the mediterranean. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) said that “only” 1691 lives were lost in crossing the Sahara Desert, though the number of people actually killed could be way higher (Tourner 1). A disregard for the lives of 1691 confirmed deaths and the thousands more that don’t get reported is a sad point of view the world’s leading activist group has. Yet, post COVID they say, “COVID-19 has given us confidence in digital technologies. They have proved to be highly successful in promoting remote access to asylum systems and referral and counseling services” (UN 1). This begins the search for solutions that the volunteers and refugees need to conquer the problems they face.

        Digital technologies can help volunteers and doctors treat refugees in a more timely manner than what is currently available. A technology that has come to light due to COVID, brough to form by the need for patients to get checkups while not being in contact, is Telehealth. Simply put, telehealth is a doctor’s way to see patients through a screen (ipad, samsung, iphone, computer, etc.) and diagnose them, while staying safe from COVID. “It is essential. We live in a world of technology, so necessary it will decrease time, effort, and cost.” CBR managers reported no foreseeable negative impacts to using this system in Jordanian CBR centers”, managers told Mitchell-Gillespie when working with Telehealth (Mitchell-Gillespie 7). Telehealth is a means to take the technology we use all the time, and turn it into something that can greatly help the general population. Yet, refugees don’t have access to this. Instead, a clinical application could be used in hand built cubicles that the refugees can use to talk to a doctor. The language barrier isn’t an issue either, as telehealth has a built in translator that is state of the art. I can personally speak to the credibility of this solution, as my own doctors office recommended me to speak with my physician using Telehealth. The technology did it’s job, and I can only imagine how helpful this will be in aiding the volunteers who face the refugee crisis.

        However, some people will rebut the aid, saying that people who are citizens need the aid first. While this argument does have some merit, you are a citizen in a country and you expect to be respected by your country. But, when someone who is less fortunate comes along, it becomes a moral argument as to who should be helped first. There is no real right answer, and in a perfect world, everyone should receive the same healthcare. In an interview with the director of the New Internationalism Project, Phyllis Bennis, she says, “Now the first community spread has happened, and it means that the already-devastated healthcare system in Gaza is going to be completely overwhelmed and unable to deal with the crisis” (Jackson 1). Gaza has been facing harsh living conditions for a while, and Bennet says the country has essentially been on lockdown since 2007, and the COVID pandemic has finally taken a foothold. It is in times like these when people must think about the global community, and those who can afford to help those in need, should go out and donate to organizations that can help the less fortunate afford healthcare.

        In a digitalized world, and an interconnected world, we are all closer to one another than we think. This is because most people can read the same posts, watch the same news, and learn of the same events happening around the world. Technology is being incorporated into healthcare in new and creative ways, and the less fortunate, especially refugees, have more light at the end of the path than before. But this is only capable if we all recognize that if we have the luxury to help others first, we should take the initiative and do it. The COVID pandemic has two sides to it; one side is of despair and hardships, and the other is of hope and freedom. We are “turning over a new leaf” in the course of the Pandemic, and hopefully we have lived through the worst of two “storms”.

 

Works Cited

Jackson, Janine, et al. “’Foreign Policy of This Country Has to Reject US Exceptionalism’.” FAIR, 8 Sept. 2020, fair.org/home/foreign-policy-of-this-country- has-to-reject-us-exceptionalism/. 

“Kenya: COVID-19 Further Fuels Mental Health Crisis in Dadaab | MSF.” Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International, www.msf.org/kenya-covid-19-further-fuels-mental-health-crisis-dadaab. Accessed 27 Oct. 2020.

Mitchell-Gillespie, Bria, et al. “Sustainable Support Solutions for Community-Based Rehabilitation Workers in Refugee Camps: Piloting Telehealth Acceptability and Implementation.” Globalization & Health, vol. 16, no. 1, Sept. 2020, pp. 1–14. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1186/s12992-020-00614-y.

Mooi, Chuah Siew, and Ann Nicole Nunis. “The Experience of Volunteers and Frontline Workers in Marginalized Communities Across Southeast Asia.” Multicultural Counseling Applications for Improved Mental Healthcare Services, edited by Anasuya Jegathevi Jegathesan and Siti Salina Abdullah, Medical Information Science Reference, 2019, pp. 93-111. Advances in Psychology, Mental Health, and Behavioral Studies. Gale eBooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX7786400015/GVRL?u=newpaltz&sid=GVRL&xid=7c578d2c. Accessed 27 Oct. 2020.

Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. “COVID-19 Crisis Underlines Need for Refugee Solidarity and Inclusion.” UNHCR, www.unhcr.org/news/latest/ 2020/10/5f7dfbc24/covid-19-crisis-underlines-need-refugee-solidarity-inclusion.html.

Tourneur, Isabel, et al. “Health and Asylum Seekers in Europe.” World Medical Journal, vol. 61, no. 3, Oct. 2015, pp. 89–97. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=110607852&site=ehost-live.

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel Cragan

Professor Phillips

English 170 22

18 November 2020

“Argumentative Research-based Essay (Final Draft): How COVID Has Been Affecting The Refugee Crisis”

        A storm has taken over the world in the last year. At the start of 2020, we all heard about the Coronavirus (COVID-19, COVID). When it came to America, the sense of fear and panic was unprecedented and unrivaled, at least since 9/11. Yet, another great issue, one that has been here far longer than COVID, causes an unprecedented and unrivaled fear for those in the middle of the conflict. This conflict is the refugee crisis. While it has gained attention in the news, the refugee crisis has fared far worse than most of the general public realize due to COVID. Many people  have had their lives impacted greatly from the virus; this being said, imagine having no home, having seen family members killed in front of you, having to walk without food and water for days, having no certainty of life, and then coming to a camp where you are supposed to be helped, just to contract COVID. This situation is hellish and inhumane on many tiers. However, COVID-19 has been a “double edged sword” for the refugee crisis by worsening the state of life refugees trudge through, while simultaneously allowing doctors to create new healthcare ideas that help not just refugees, but all people.

        COVID has worsened the state of the refugee crisis by slowing down and nearly halting aid sent to many camps. In a camp in Dadaab, Kenya, some refugees “ were already frustrated with the lack of progress in finding durable solutions,” referring to the lack of medical spending and relief put into permanent clinics and doctors in refugee camps (Kenya 1). Doctors who spend a lot of time in volunteer run camps generally aren’t paid at all, and depending on the time spent overseas, don’t make too much money back home for what they do (Mooi, Nunis 97). This affects the lives of the doctors, and causes many professionals to stay away from helping at camps. The doctors in the countries with the refugee camps already have the general population to deal with, and aren’t able to lend assistance to the volunteers. Coupled with a situation “where the meagre humanitarian assistance they depend on has been further reduced amid donor concerns of widening funding gaps”, being a refugee in this time is harsher than ever (Kenya 1). Not only can doctors not work in the pandemic, but aid workers, people who help teach refugees, people who set up programs, etc., are all facing major challenges. Face to face meetings with refugees are limited, people who need reassurance are not getting it, and the people who are supposed to be reassuring others are not even sure themselves if they can do it. A situation that has been bad for decades, combined with a lack of help in the first place, is now in an exponential amount of trouble. How can people begin to fix it?

        To understand how the problem may be fixed, assessing how refugees were helped before COVID is a good reference point. Chuah Siew Moo and Ann Nicole Nunis, two volunteers who help refugees in Southeast Asia, state that, “A majority of the frontline workers dealing with the HIV and AIDS epidemic are from the healthcare or NGO industry. This includes doctors, nurses and anyone involved in direct care of the clients” (97). The struggles of refugees are a common topic, but the struggles of the volunteers, other than the basic phrase “we need more help”, are not heard as often. To hear the specifics of what the frontline workers have to go through is the starting point for analyzing solutions.  Workers in Refugee camps are tasked with finding the medical needs of those who come into the camp, and monitor how they may get better or worse. Asking someone who needs medication if they are sick, without knowing they are allergic to types of penicillin, is most likely to produce harm if they are given medication their body doesn’t accept. Having to fill and file paperwork for tests, begin tests, and get results is a time consuming and expensive process that needs to be shortened and made cheaper. With COVID around, this has become an even more arduous process, as before they can test for other diseases (Mooi, Nunis 97). Also, asking for refugees to quarantine in a place that is already run down and barely held together is a near impossible task. While some people may claim that asking them to quarantine after a long and difficult journey is inhumane, it is also necessary for their safety. COVID seemingly spreads far faster than most other deadly diseases, and their symptoms are worsened if they have medical issues. This describes the state that many refugees are in; malnutrition, lack of water, severe injury, infections etc., are all able to weaken the immune system greatly. Mooi and Nunis go on to explain that the people who deal with diseases like HIV/AIDS are well versed in what they do, but COVID is so new that scientists can only theorize. Who would want someone treating them based on theorizing what the cures are on the spot, yet, refugees may not have a choice. The flip side to this is that if no treatment is done, the result could be just as bad. 

        Taking in refugees has also been a big talking point, as well as sending relief in a time when even first world countries need tests and medicine. Another point that supports safety and the well being of refugees comes from a scholarly source explaining the journey that refugees take to cross the Mediterranean. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) said that “only” 1691 lives were lost in crossing the Sahara Desert, though the number of people actually killed could be significantly higher (Tourner). Saying “only” 1691 confirmed deaths were reported is a sad reality, while many thousands more are never found. Yet, post COVID they believe, “COVID-19 has given us confidence in digital technologies. They have proved to be highly successful in promoting remote access to asylum systems and referral and counseling services” (UN 1). This begins the search for solutions that the volunteers and refugees need to conquer the problems they face.

        Digital technologies can help volunteers and doctors treat refugees in a more timely manner than what had been available. A technology that has presented itself due to COVID, brought to form by the need for patients to get checkups while not being in contact, is Telehealth. Simply put, telehealth is a doctor’s way to see patients through a screen (ipad, samsung, iphone, computer, etc.) and diagnose them, while staying safe from COVID. “It is essential. We live in a world of technology, so necessary it will decrease time, effort, and cost.” CBR [Community Based Rehabilitation]  managers reported no foreseeable negative impacts to using this system in Jordanian CBR centers” (Mitchell-Gillespie 7). Telehealth is a means to take the technology people generally use, and turn it into something that can greatly help the general population. Yet, refugees don’t have access to this. Instead, a clinical application could be used in hand built cubicles that the refugees can use to talk to a doctor. The language barrier isn’t an issue either, as telehealth has a built in translator that is state of the art. Physicians and patients in the US are already using this technology and finding it helpful.

        However, some people will rebut the aid, saying that people who are citizens need it first. While this argument does have some merit, if a person is a citizen living and paying taxes in a country, they expect to be respected by that country. But, when someone who is less fortunate comes along, it becomes a moral argument as to who should be helped first. There is no real right answer, and in a perfect world, everyone should receive the same healthcare. In an interview with the director of the New Internationalism Project, Phyllis Bennis, she exclaims, “Now the first community spread has happened, and it means that the already-devastated healthcare system in Gaza is going to be completely overwhelmed and unable to deal with the crisis” (Jackson 1). Gaza has been facing harsh living conditions since it was formed in 1949, and Bennet says the country has essentially been on lockdown since 2007. Since the COVID pandemic has finally taken a foothold, the effects are uncertain, but estimated to cause a lot of casualties (Jackson). It is in times like these when people must think about the global community, and those who can afford to help those in need, should go out and donate to organizations that can help the less fortunate afford healthcare.

        In a digitalized world, and an interconnected world, we are all closer to one another than we think. This is because most people can read the same posts, watch the same news, and learn of the same events happening around the world. Technology is being incorporated into healthcare in new and creative ways, and the less fortunate, especially refugees, have more hope in their everyday lives. But this is only possible if we all recognize that if we have the luxury to help others first, we should take the initiative and do it. The COVID pandemic has two sides to it; one side is of despair and hardships, and the other is of hope and freedom. We are entering a new stage in the course of the Pandemic, and hopefully, by the end of it, we will have lived through the worst of two storms.

 

Works Cited

Jackson, Janine, et al. “’Foreign Policy of This Country Has to Reject US Exceptionalism’.” FAIR, 8 Sept. 2020, fair.org/home/foreign-policy-of-this-country- has-to-reject-us-exceptionalism/. 

“Kenya: COVID-19 Further Fuels Mental Health Crisis in Dadaab | MSF.” Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International, www.msf.org/kenya-covid-19-further-fuels-mental-health-crisis-dadaab. Accessed 27 Oct. 2020.

Mitchell-Gillespie, Bria, et al. “Sustainable Support Solutions for Community-Based Rehabilitation Workers in Refugee Camps: Piloting Telehealth Acceptability and Implementation.” Globalization & Health, vol. 16, no. 1, Sept. 2020, pp. 1–14. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1186/s12992-020-00614-y.

Mooi, Chuah Siew, and Ann Nicole Nunis. “The Experience of Volunteers and Frontline Workers in Marginalized Communities Across Southeast Asia.” Multicultural Counseling Applications for Improved Mental Healthcare Services, edited by Anasuya Jegathevi Jegathesan and Siti Salina Abdullah, Medical Information Science Reference, 2019, pp. 93-111. Advances in Psychology, Mental Health, and Behavioral Studies. Gale eBooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX7786400015/GVRL?u=newpaltz&sid=GVRL&xid=7c578d2c. Accessed 27 Oct. 2020.

Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. “COVID-19 Crisis Underlines Need for Refugee Solidarity and Inclusion.” UNHCR, www.unhcr.org/news/latest/ 2020/10/5f7dfbc24/covid-19-crisis-underlines-need-refugee-solidarity-inclusion.html.

Tourneur, Isabel, et al. “Health and Asylum Seekers in Europe.” World Medical Journal, vol. 61, no. 3, Oct. 2015, pp. 89–97. EBSCOhost,            search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=110607852&site=ehost-live.