UNHCR Urges Countries to Release Refugees From Detention Centers Amid COVID-19 Outbreak
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has urged countries to immediately release refugees and asylum seekers who are currently being held in detention centers amid the ongoing coronavirus disease outbreak, according to a press release on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th July, 2020) The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has urged countries to immediately release refugees and asylum seekers who are currently being held in detention centers amid the ongoing coronavirus disease outbreak, according to a press release on Friday.
"Measures to tackle COVID19 do not justify arbitrarily detaining them on arrival, which not only worsens the misery of people who have already suffered, but also undermines efforts to limit the spread of the virus," Gillian Triggs, UNHCR's assistant high commissioner for protection, said in the press release.
The UN agency has urged countries to refrain from detaining asylum seekers and refugees, in order to reduce the risk of them contracting the disease in detention centers, according to the press release.
UNHCR also reiterated its call that children should never be held in immigration detention.
Another UN agency, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), has made multiple calls throughout the COVID-19 pandemic for countries to release detained asylum seekers.
In March, the OCHA urged the Libyan authorities to release refugees and asylum seekers over fears that the disease would spread quickly within detention centers.