Lancet Migration1 calls for migrants and refugees to be urgently included in responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.2 Many of these populations live, travel, and work in conditions where physical distancing and recommended hygiene measures are impossible because of poor living conditions3 and great economic precarity. This global public health emergency highlights the exclusion and multiple barriers to health care4 that are faced by migrants and refugees, among whom COVID-19 threatens to have rapid and devastating effects.5 From an enlightened self-interest perspective, measures to control the outbreak of COVID-19 will only be successful if all populations are included in the national and international responses. Moreover, excluding migrants and refugees contradicts the commitment to leave no one behind and the ethics of justice that underpin public health. Principles of solidarity, human rights, and equity must be central to the COVID-19 response; otherwise the world risks leaving behind those who are most marginalised. Join our global call to action for the inclusion of migrants and refugees in the COVID-19 response (panel ).
Panel. Lancet Migration's immediate actions urged in response to COVID-19.
Urgent universal and equitable access to health systems, preparedness, and response
Access should exist for migrant and refugee populations, regardless of age, gender, or migration status, including the immediate suspension of laws and prohibitive fees that limit access to health-care services and economic support programmes.
Inclusion of migrant and refugee populations in health protection responses
Immediate responses should include the transfer of people held in overcrowded reception, transit, and detention facilities to safer living conditions; suspension of deportations and upholding the principle of non-refoulement; and urgent relocation of and family reunification for unaccompanied minors.
Responsible, transparent, and migrant-inclusive public information strategies
Strategies should include regular, accurate, and linguistically and culturally appropriate public communication and information sharing, alongside community mobilisation. Confronting racism and prejudice with a zero-tolerance approach should be at the core of government and societal action.
This online publication has been corrected. The corrected version first appeared at thelancet.com on April 27, 2020
Acknowledgments
LH reports personal fees from Médecins Sans Frontières, personal fees from Doctors of the World UK, and personal fees from Lancet Migration. PP reports personal fees from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. RA reports grants from Doctors of The World. MO reports personal fees from Médecins Sans Frontières, personal fees from Lancet Migration, and personal fees from WHO. All other authors declare no competing interests.
References
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