By producing soap, treating the sick and shopping for the vulnerable, these refugees from around the world are taking action to fight the coronavirus. | Español | Français | عربي
19 June 2020 (UNHCR)* — For almost two months now, Carmen Parra has been working 12- and 24-hour shifts as part of an ambulance crew in Peru that visits suspected COVID-19 patients in their homes and transports those who are critically ill to hospital.
(UN News)* — UN Secretary-General António Guterres has reminded countries of their fundamental obligation to protect the nearly 80 million people worldwide forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution and other crises.
In his message to mark World Refugee Day [20 June], the UN chief also praised those nations and communities hosting refugees and internally displaced people, often amid their own economic and security challenges.
“We owe these countries our thanks, our support and our investment,” he said.
19 June 2020 (UN Environment)* — After a five-hour journey by boat and an inland journey on a ranger´s backpack, Diego, the giant tortoise who helped save his species from extinction, finally arrived his native Española Island, in the emblematic Ecuadorian archipelago of Galápagos.
Diego will finally be able to wander in this native island, 87 years after he left to participate in breeding programmes in captivity. Photo by Galapagos National Park...
Diego, now over 100 years old, will have the chance to live in the wild after eight decades of residing in a zoo and in a conservation center, where he fathered at least 800 offspring.
Only through an understanding of the historical impact of colonialism can we begin to heal the wounds caused by centuries of slavery, violence, and oppression.
Pro-Mosaddegh protests in Tehran, 16 August 1953 | Wikimedia Commons. Public domain
18 June 2020 (openDemocracy)* — In August 1619, a ship called the White Lion arrives in Virginia, a year before the Mayflower, the ship that was transporting the first English Puritans. It carries with it the first load of African slaves, captured in West Africa, starting the enslavement of Africans in the North American colonies.
A woman living in Kassab Camp for Internally Displaced People in Kutum, North Darfur, expresses her sorrow over the increase in rapes in the area. Photo: UN Photo/Albert González Farran
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Already a dramatically under-reported crime, CRSV has been further obscured by this pandemic. COVID-19 hampers the possibility of survivors to report sexual violence and further exacerbates the existing structural, institutional and sociocultural barriers to reporting such crimes.
(UN News)* — Conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) is “a brutal crime” that is being exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN chief underscored on Friday [19 June 2020], the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. Mainly perpetrated against women and girls, CRSV also affects men and boys.
“It reverberates throughout communities and societies, perpetuating cycles of violence and threatening international peace and security”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message for the day.
From health workers to educators, to broadcasters and volunteers, many refugees are finding ways to play a part in fighting the coronavirus pandemic and caring for those who fall ill.© UNHCR
