World Bank, UN Say Pandemic is Pushing Displaced People to Take Extreme Survival Measures

GENEVA - World Bank-U.N. refugee agency survey in eight developing countries finds the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened conditions for forcibly displaced people, pushing them to take extreme measures to survive. The data was collected from 90,000 phone interviews in Bangladesh, Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kenya, Uganda and Yemen.

An analysis of the data shows forcibly displaced people and the communities hosting them are suffering from the social and economic fallout of the pandemic.  However, it finds displaced people are at particular risk from the pandemic, which has increased their vulnerabilities in significant life-threatening ways. The survey highlights the devastating and wide-reaching impacts on the forcibly displaced from government lockdowns. It says they are faced with increased food prices, loss of jobs and income, lack of health care, school closures and limited freedom of movement.