Born in Brazil, Claudia has struggled to find unofficial jobs while taking care of her four-year-old daughter Maria. Still, there are many bright spots amid the challenges. These stories are a stark reminder: while COVID has been cruel for all of us, it has been catastrophic for migrants.Even in the most developed countries, migrants often don’t have access to critical Covid coping mechanismssuch as mental health care, safe housing(since they often share apartments) or working conditions(with proper hygiene protection measures), according to the IFRC reportLeast protected, most affected: Migrants and refugees facing extraordinary risks during the COVID-19 pandemic.On top of all that, they are even farther from loved ones and moreexposed tomedia disinformation in languages they may not fully master. “They say, ‘If we are going to die, we want to die together’.” “A lot of people want to go home to their parents,” she says. Some, she says, end up sleeping in the street, afraid of sharing a room with people who may be infected. “Because these people are considered illegal, they cannot rent a house, they cannot work legally, they don’t have social security, they don’t have bank accounts,” says Joquebede Mesquita of the Company of Friends, which provides practical and legal assistance to undocumented migrants living in Netherlands. Cut off even from small jobs and activities,they are not eligible for social benefits that provide the stability needed to cope with a pandemic. ![]() With the pandemic looming over everyone’s daily life,migrants such as Izzy face particular hardships. ![]() ![]() “When you live as an undocumented migrant, one thing that keeps you alive is contact,” says Izzy, a migrant from Sierra Leone whose simple daily encounters with people going through similar struggles have been seriously diminished due to Covid-19. | Article Cut off, holding on, and craving contact
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