UNHCR Urges Governments to Continue Processing Asylum Applications Despite COVID-19
While the pandemic made it more difficult for migrants escaping conflicts to reach safe territories, it also had a negative impact on countries' economies and migrants' accommodation practices, which have to be continued despite the COVID-19-related disruptions, a spokeswoman for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Spain told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th October, 2020) While the pandemic made it more difficult for migrants escaping conflicts to reach safe territories, it also had a negative impact on countries' economies and migrants' accommodation practices, which have to be continued despite the COVID-19-related disruptions, a spokeswoman for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Spain told Sputnik.
"Border restrictions due to the pandemic and the strengthened controls have made it more difficult for refugees to reach safe territories and reduced the number of people arriving in Europe, in general terms. UNHCR has kept on seeking countries to allow people seeking international protection to access the asylum procedures, applying the COVID-19 protocol measures and necessary quarantines. This pandemic has paralyzed countries in many aspects but has not stopped wars and forced displacement. The right to seek asylum should be upheld," Maria Jesus Vega said.
Acknowledging the pandemic's detrimental socio-economic impact on the countries and their practices, the UNHCR spokeswoman nevertheless urged governments around the world to continue processing asylum requests and admitting migrants, ensuring it is included in their COVID-19 prevention programs.
"We are calling on governments to ensure that refugees and asylum-seekers are included within their COVID-19 prevention and response programs, to ensure that 'no-one is left behind' as stated in the Sustainable Development Goals," Vega said.
Early on Wednesday morning, the US-based Johns Hopkins University reported that the global coronavirus tally had topped 38 million cases. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11. More than 1 million people died from the disease by now.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is a framework developed by the United Nations as part of its 2030 Agenda to include 17 concrete targets, each with several detailed subtargets, which the member states should work to achieve by 2030. These goals range across various areas, such as economy, human rights, climate and rule of law, and are designed in a way to be interconnected and reinforce each other.