Situational Brief on Young people – EN

As health systems worldwide struggle to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, migrants find themselves among the hardest hit. Emerging evidence highlights the multiple pathways of the impact that COVID-19 can have on migrant and displaced populations, as a result of both the direct effects of the pandemic and policy measures put in place to prevent contagion. Those in detention, living in a camp or camp-like conditions, or in crowded urban environments are less able to maintain social distancing and implement other protective measures and, therefore, are likely to be more vulnerable to the disease. They are also often particularly vulnerable to secondary impacts of the response, such as the impact on healthcare systems, the economic impacts of closures and the direct and indirect consequences of closing borders. Children are a particularly vulnerable and often hidden group. While children appear to be at lower risk of serious illness from coronavirus than other population sub-groups, where they are living in suboptimal conditions, they risk being among its biggest victims. Not only are children in these circumstances at increased risk of infection and losing loved ones to the virus, but they are also likely to face socio-economic effects with a greater negative impact than the virus itself.