How Are Forcibly Displaced People Affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak? Evidence From Brazil

Abstract

Refugees tend to be a neglected population during health emergencies. This article studies how the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Brazil affected forcibly displaced people considering their intersectional multiple identities. I conducted 29 semistructured phenomenological interviews with refugees living in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro between March 27 and April 06, 2020. These states’ governors closed nonessential services and schools. The results indicate that refugees face three challenges connected to this pandemic: (a) same challenges as Brazilians due to their labor vulnerability social identity, (b) challenges aggravated by the pandemic due to their identity of nonnationals including access to information and services, and (c) new challenges due to their social identity of forced displaced nonnationals including closing of migration services and borders and the feeling of “living the pandemic twice.” This research contributes to the literature of intersectionality and asylum by understanding how refugees in the Global South are affected by pandemics and responses to them, considering their own lived experiences and multiple social identities.

“Lived the Pandemic Twice”: A Scoping Review of the Unequal Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Asylum Seekers and Undocumented Migrants

“…Several studies identified that asylum seekers and undocumented migrants experienced increased exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus due to living in overcrowded housing [ 33 , 35 , 38 , 40 , 45 , 46 ] and shared accommodation [ 34 , 36 ]. This made it difficult to adopt COVID-19 public health measures (social distancing, quarantine, and self-isolation) and infection concerns were high: “if someone is infected all the people in the house will die” [ 33 ].…”

“…Several factors contributed to differential effectiveness of information and communication interventions. On the one hand, studies noted a lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate information in the U.S. [ 33 , 46 ], U.K. [ 34 ], Saudi Arabia [ 24 ], and Brazil [ 45 ] for asylum seekers and undocumented migrants. On the other hand, barriers to information were infrastructural (rather than linguistic), with a lack access to official media channels leading to misinformation about the pandemic [ 33 ].…”

“…Some studies included in this review highlighted that asylum seekers and undocumented migrants were routinely excluded from social benefits [ 33 , 35 , 46 ]. They were also specifically excluded from unemployment and pandemic stimulus policy measures and benefits in the U.S. [ 43 , 47 ], not informed about their eligibility in Brazil [ 45 ], and disincentivised from accessing them in Switzerland since financial autonomy remained a condition for resident applications [ 7 ]. Availability of other socio-economic support was also curtailed by the pandemic: three studies in Lebanon reported a shortfall of humanitarian assistance [ 29 , 38 , 40 ], while many dedicated NGO social services closed [ 7 , 34 , 50 ].…”

“…Economic instability from loss of work with flow-on consequences of food and housing insecurity was “by far the largest impact” of government-imposed curfews, lockdowns, and travel restrictions on asylum seekers and undocumented migrants [ 25 , 49 ]. Asylum seekers and undocumented migrants often work in the informal sector [ 45 ] and rely on work in people’s homes [ 7 ], all sectors and services that were heavily impacted by pandemic control measures. The pandemic also eroded solidarity and support networks as time passed under lockdown, and the economic situation worsened: “None of my friends can lend me money as they are all facing difficulties” [ 7 ].…”

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“…Por ejemplo, la introducción del requisito de una visa (muchas veces llamada «humanitaria») a los ciudadanos venezolanos en Chile, Ecuador, República Dominicana, Guatemala, Honduras, Panamá y Perú ha agudizado la magnitud de la irregularidad en la región (Freier y Luzes, 2021; Acosta y Freier, en prensa). La literatura reciente también evidencia cómo han empeorado las condiciones de precariedad y vulnerabilidad de las poblaciones desplazadas en América Latina debido a las medidas de prevención de la expansión de la COVID-19, como el cierre de fronteras, la inmovilización social obligatoria, la ralentización o suspenso de los procedimientos para solicitar el refugio, los requisitos documentarios y la falta de información (Vera et al, 2020;Zapata y Prieto Rosas, 2020;Freier y Castillo Jara, 2021;Martuscelli, 2021) 2 . Sin embargo, para averiguar el alcance de estas medidas, resulta necesario profundizar en el vínculo entre la irregularidad, los sistemas de refugio y los impactos de esta condición irregular en la población solicitante de refugio.…”