Protracted displacement is often implicitly associated with passivity and immobility, and it is not by chance that protracted displacement is often described through the metaphor of 'limbo'. But people living in protracted displacement are far from immobile. On the contrary, both in their everyday lives and over time, they experience 'constrained mobility' at different scales and in pursuit of different goals. While heavily constrained by a complex and constantly evolving combination of legal and socioeconomic factors, these mobility patterns are a crucial form of 'agency under duress'. Here, Roman et al use the cases of Greece and Italy to explore what protracted displacement looks like in reality. These countries share at least three common structural features. First, both are 'first entry' countries in the European Union (EU), where asylum seekers' mobility is constrained by Dublin Regulation rules. Second, both countries have comparatively low administrative capacity, in particular in the fields of reception and integration of asylum seekers and refugees. Finally they are both characterized by stagnant official labor markets and sizeable underground economies. All of these factors deeply shape the patterns of mobility and inclusion/exclusion of migrants living in protracted displacement.
According to the World Health Organisation, older people are at highest risk from COVID-19. This is because those over the age of 60 are most vulnerable to developing co-morbidities and are among the most vulnerable in terms of direct virus impact and indirect impact from infection prevention and control measures. Older people living in refugee settlements face particular difficulties accessing basic WASH services, limiting their ability to implement hygiene measures aimed at preventing the transmission of COVID-19. These contexts are also extremely challenging for the implementation of social distancing and self-isolation measures due to overcrowded and inadequate housing. Here, Cortez and van Blerk examine older refugees' access to potable water, hygiene and sanitation.
This article reported the development of four sets of recommendations for the adaptation of CFS programming and the identification of different learning modalities in use or accessible to children within communities. Over one third of children and caregivers surveyed reported new stressors for caregivers or related to caregiving in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these include closed churches, closed borders (restricting movements back to South Sudan), economic insecurity, lack of material goods to support basic needs, lack of support from relatives, and fear of the coronavirus itself. New COVID-related stressors were also reported for caregivers where children's exposure to friends was reduced. The two most frequently reported stressors related to lack of food and education. With access to the community now more difficult due to COVID-19 restrictions, several community-based groups have been leading efforts to reduce disease transmission and identify families in need of general psychosocial and specialised mental health support. Trained health workers and community volunteers have been working together to support dissemination of COVID messaging. This initiative can be extended to develop and disseminate child-friendly MHPSS messaging and capacity-strengthening efforts for community groups, child protection committees (CPCs) and faith leaders already working to provide information to prevent the spread of the virus and address stigma and other misconceptions. Overwhelmingly, children surveyed reported not being able to go back to school and be with friends as the primary source of their concern. Prior to the closure of CFS within the settlement, children and youth clubs (CYCs) were able to bring children together and to promote social cohesion, peacebuilding and child protection, and were also useful for enabling child-led advocacy. In the absence of CFS, these smaller CYCs have thrived outside the confines of their formerly place-based home. Facilitated by community groups and faith leaders, activities include opportunities which they would normally have in the CFS. The groups follow a set of sessions adapted from a child-led peacebuilding curriculum. Child club members trained in journalism have also been helping with COVID response activities through promoting child-friendly information on coronavirus prevention and personal hygiene, either face to face or through mobile phones, sharing information on child protection through the radio and during community meetings, and promoting children's safety from violence. Members of the clubs also reach out to child-headed households to provide basic child protection and psychosocial support messages.
The pandemic has placed significant additional mental and emotional burdens on forced migrants. Here, Balletto et al talk about adaptation of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in camps in the context of COVID-19. The recommendations here reflect these layers of intervention, and focus on the importance of establishing collective care and mutual aid networks that integrate the cognitive, affective, spiritual and social realities of displaced persons living in camp settings in the context of COVID-19.
