7
Monday
July 2025
2:57 AM IST
News Headlines
Home   | Main News   | Kerala  | National   | International  | Business   | Sports   | Entertainment   | Columns   | Offbeat   | About Deepika 
International News
Coronavirus risks taking heavy toll on migrants in Europe
 
Berlin: Syrian refugee Mahmoud Ajlouni was due to pick up his new German residency permit last week but found the door firmly shut at the processing office in Berlin.


"I had an appointment," he said, adding he has "no idea" when he'll be able to replace the flimsy sheet of paper that is his only official identification.

For Ajlouni, the uncertainty could last weeks if not months as Germany has suspended refugee intake programmes or asylum seeker hearings amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Beyond Germany, fears are also growing about the fate of migrants and refugees in the bloc as Europe takes increasingly stringent measures to fight contagion.

With Europe now the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, the European Union has slammed shut its external borders to halt the spread of COVID-19.

Countries like France, Spain and Italy have also imposed lockdowns on their populations to restrict movements and halt the spread of the virus.

Migrants and asylum seekers have become one of the most vulnerable groups hard hit by the crisis as public services that usually tend to the group are wound down.

Aid groups have also warned that already poor conditions in camps including in Greece could worsen, while tense scenes have already erupted in refugee accomodations in Germany.

In Suhl, eastern Germany, 200 police were called in after brawls broke out in a refugee home where 533 people were quarantined.

Twenty-two were sent for confinement in a former juvenile prison.

The quarantines had been ordered after several cases of COVID-19 were detected among refugees in Germany.

Meanwhile people are only allowed to claim asylum at present if they can show a negative test for COVID-19 or after submitting to 14 days of quarantine.

Volunteers and non-government organisations fear that locked up in close quarters, with shared bathroom and kitchen facilities, the confinement will do little to slow the virus' spread.

"Kids are still running around in the corridors," said Sophia, a volunteer working especially with Afghan families in a Berlin home.

"There's disinfectant for people's hands at the entrance, but otherwise nothing much," she adds, complaining further that now visits from outside are banned.

In the Calais area in northern France, lockdown measures and fear of infection have reduced the numbers of volunteers working with the 2,000 migrants there, putting an end to food handouts.

"If the virus does spread inside a camp, it's going to turn into a disaster," warns Antoine Nehr of NGO Utopia 56.

The situation is particularly worrying in Greek islands, where thousands of migrants are packed into camps without access to basic hygiene facilities.

"If people aren't evacuated from the islands, this is going to lead to a health catastrophe over the medium term," MEP Erik Marquardt of the German Greens party said by phone from Lesbos, where many migrants land after the short crossing from Turkey.

German NGO Pro Asyl has urged "European solidarity" to take in migrants from the island camps, including "more than 10,000 minors".

Berlin has said it is ready to take in some of the 1,600 children the EU plans to evacuate.

For those left behind, Greek authorities have issued strict movement restrictions.

Doctors without borders is attempting to inform people on the islands about the virus.

Nevertheless, "there's not much point distributing flyers with hygiene advice if people are sleeping packed together in tents and can't keep their distance," Marquardt said.


64 arrested in London on Charles III coronation day
Bangladesh police arrest six persons for selling fraud US visa stamps
Erdogan announces extension of grain deal by 120 days
Musk hints at new chief for Twitter
Modi interacts with Biden, Sunak and Macron on sidelines of G20 summit
PM Modi arrives in Bali for G20 Summit and bilateral meetings with key world leaders
Biden says US will 'vigorously' compete with China
Biden admin committed to work with India on its transition away from Russia: White House
Time to act faster on climate change: Rishi Sunak at COP27
Imran Khan-led march against Pak govt to resume Tuesday, discharged from hospital
Massive missile strike by Russia on major Ukraine cities
Stampede kills 8 at concert in DR Congo
UN chief welcomes forming of new govt in Iraq
Erdogan vows to adopt new Turkish constitution in 2023
Boris Johnson pulls out of UK PM race, Rishi Sunak closer to victory
Rishi Sunak would beat Liz Truss if UK PM poll held now, survey finds
Imran Khan stuns PML-N-led ruling coalition in bypolls; wins 6 National Assembly seats
PM Shehbaz dubs Imran as greatest 'fraudster ever'
Imran demands end to 'reign of robbers' in Sindh
Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced to 3 yrs in prison
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
'Ponniyin Selvan II' breaches Rs 300 crore mark at global box office
 Chennai: Director Mani Ratnam's magnum opus "Ponniyin Selvan II" has raised over Rs 300 crore at the  
Selena Gomez sets record straight on her relationship status amid dating rumours
Ranveer Singh bags Filmfare Best Actor for '83'
RRR can hit theatres on Holi
KERALA NEWS
Top police official held in gang rape case
 Kozhikode: Police on Sunday arrested a Circle Inspector (station house officer) attached in Beypore
Rain likely to occur many places in Kerala
Two killed as car plunged into well
Kerala CM greet Oommen Chandy on his 79th birthday
NATIONAL NEWS
Quo Vadis, Manipur?
 Imphal - Hardly any state in India has undergone in the last decade the chaos, lawlessness and suffe
27-year-old Hyderabad woman among victims of Texas mall shooting
One held in Swati Maliwal case: Delhi Police
PM to deliver opening address at 'No Money for Terror' event
Untitled Page
Rashtra Deepika LTD
Copyright @ 2021 , Rashtra Deepika Ltd.