Voices for Displaced Syrians Forum Recommendations to the International Community to Support the Response to COVID-19 among Displaced Syrians

Voices for Displaced Syrians

VDSF

Voices for

Displaced Syrians

academic year (2020-2021), which depends on digital media and provides equal access to refugees

and host communities without discrimination.

Phase Two: Responding to the disease if it spreads among refugees:

Noting that national health programs in Syria's neighboring countries deal with cases of COVID-19

infection for residents without discrimination, we would like to mention the importance of supporting the

efforts of these countries to provide free health care and referral services to all infected refugees who

need hospitalization.

أصوات لأجل المهجرين السوريين

Regarding the medical isolation of patients who do not need hospitalization and their contacts, we

recommend that isolation centers be set up far away from camps, in recognition of the extreme difficulty

of controlling mixing with non-infected refugees in the event that isolation centers are established within

the camps or nearby.

Finally, for the Syrian refugee gatherings/camps in Lebanon, we recommend to deal with them as

individuals. The UNHCR should lead the coordination with relevant authorities and the civil society to have

plans for each gathering/camp, in which, the appearance of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in a site

will trigger the proposed response:

1. Complete lock down of the site.

2.

Removal of high risk persons (i.e, people of age 60 and above and with chronic diseases, and immune

deficiency) to pre-organized isolation centers.

3. Provision of all basic services to residents: health, food, water... etc.

This process should continue until the virus spread in the site is controlled.

At the end, the Voices for Displaced Syrians Forum, repeats its call to UNHCR to facilitate the engagement

and inclusion of Syrian civil society in refugee planning and response mechanisms at local, regional and

global levels.

The VDSF is a gathering of 36 Syrian NGOs who are active in protecting and improving the quality of life

of displaced Syrians in and outside Syria. We work inside Syria, in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, France,

Germany, and others to provide services, document violations, produce information and advocate for

improved polices and response to Displaced Syrians.

"https://www.unocha.org/sites/unocha/files/Global-Humanitarian-Response-Plan-COVID-19.pdf

"https://www.icvanetwork.org/system/files/versions/ICVA Localization COVID19.pdf

Website: VoicesForSyrians.org

Email: [email protected] and [email protected]

Twitter: @VoicesForum

Facebook: @VoicesForSyrians