Disadvantegous Groups In The Days Of Emergency: One Needs A Home To Stay At It

While "Stay At Home" calls are spreading in the fight against Coronavirus, disadvantaged groups such as homeless and refugees who are on the other side of the coin can find very little place in the struggle with the disease programs. There are non-governmental organizations that work for the struggle of disadvantaged groups against the epidemic. One of them, Çorbada Tuzun Olsun Association, published a very important report on the homeless on the 26th of March. Support to Life Association also continues its efforts to ensure the health conditions of refugees and seasonal workers before it is too late.

Approximately 10 thousand homeless people live in Istanbul. Çorbada Tuzun Olsun Association, which has been distributing soup to the homeless for 10 years and developing projects for the homeless, emphasized that the homeless was ignored within the scope of the fight against Covid-19 with the report it published recently. In the report titled Biological Disaster: Homeless Status During Covid-19 Outbreak and Strategic Planning for Homeless it is stated as follows: “Considering respiratory distress rates which should not be ignored being high among the homeless and that the elderly are at risk of death, elderly homeless are among the groups that are most at risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome like COVID-19”.

The suggestions of the associations are as follows:

-In case of the biological disaster of COVID-19, the protection of homeless individuals can take place in two stages. (As in 2020 COVID-19 Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Esenyurt Example) First, the quarantine of the existing shelter areas for the homeless to protect the health of the remaining homeless population and to create separate quarantine areas for the homeless living on the streets who cannot stay in the shelter areas. When these two stages are implemented, homeless disadvantaged groups will be included in the scope of social crisis planning, and social isolation will be ensured throughout the society. 

– Individuals on the streets should be quarantined and considered as potential patients just like the ones who come from abroad. Quarantined ones should be categorized and divided into small groups based on their risk factors. These small groups should not only be isolated, but also categorized according to their risk groups and should be included in social isolation. In this way, a multi-layered social isolation would be provided.

– Homeless individuals who show symptoms should be given masks and should be housed separately from other homeless individuals. Before the entry of homeless individuals into the areas, individuals who have positive results of the COVID-19 test to be carried out in the relevant state institutions should be directed to the state institutions where they will receive more comprehensive health care. The transfer of homeless individuals to the relevant health institutions and shelters must be covered by the relevant institutions.

– The conditions of children under the age of 18 who live on the streets should be reported to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services, and their current status should be reported to the Ministry of Health by the Police Department, and their simultaneous determinations should be made. Since children cannot be protected from the virus outbreak in current street conditions and are in carrier positions, special quarantine zones for children should be created.

– Many children who live on the street have histories of social services institutions. As they are used to escaping from institutions, the entrances and exits of the quarantine zone should be taken under control in order to protect public health. Especially in this process, the orientation of the police officers and paramedics who will contact the children should be ensured and children should be approached carefully. The COVID-19 outbreak, the quarantine process and the necessity of this process should be told to them in a clear and appropriate language according to the child’s age and current psychology.

You can access the full report prepared presented to the public by Çorbada Tuzun Olsun Association through this link: bu linkten

Support To Life Association: Staying Home is Very Difficult, Especially for Refugees, for Seasonal Agricultural Workers and for The Ones Who Work On The Strees

One of the important associations working on disadvantaged groups is the Support to Life Association. The association focuses its work mostly on refugees and seasonal agricultural workers. We talked with the Supporting Life Protection Program Manager Hatem Efe on what can be done for the disadvantaged groups during the days of epidemic.

Two things that are declared to be the most basic ways to prevent coronavirus are to stay at home and ensure our personal hygiene. How possible is it to meet these conditions for refugees, seasonal workers and homeless people?

Vulnerable groups that already exist become even more vulnerable during disasters or emergencies. Especially people and groups with limited access to basic services whose economic status are poor, who are part of the unrecorded economy, who live in rural areas far from basic services, who have limited access to information channels, and who are low on literacy will get affected even more.

We can predict that the COVID-19 outbreak will have different and disproportionate effects on each group among the community. Nearly 4 million refugees and asylum-seekers live in Turkey; 3.6 million from Syria and 330 thousand from other countries. Half of this population is children. Among both the local and the refugee community, there are seasonal agricultural workers, homeless people, and street workers. These individuals and their families are at higher risk today because of the COVID-19 outbreak, as they’re trying to survive challenging conditions where shelter, health and hygiene conditions are not ideal. A significant number of refugees work informally and support their homes with daily jobs. Workplaces in the service sector and other sectors have been closed rapidly, and many people lost their jobs.

Staying home is very difficult especially for refugees, seasonal agricultural workers and street workers, because life goes on and income is an imperative in order to survive. To be able to protect themselves from the epidemic and not to spread the epidemic further, they need to be able to access social assistance and support mechanisms during this period in order to stay at home or take shelter in provided shelters. If this social support mechanism won’t be offered, many people will continue to work and live on the streets in the seasonal agriculture areas. Starting from April, mobile seasonal agricultural workers will hit the roads.

Outbreaks are included in the scope of disasters just like earthquakes, floods and wars. So, what should be done for disadvantaged groups in disaster situations? What does the procedure to be followed include? What are your views on the current situation for disadvantaged people regarding accommodation, nutrition and social conditions, especially for refugees in Turkey, as a result of your observations and information you have acquired?

COVID-19, which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, created a disaster that affected the world in a short time. In this process, it is very critical that civil society, the public sector, the private sector that is all stakeholders to be able to produce concrete and rapid solutions in solidarity, both locally and internationally. When dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak or any epidemic, it is necessary to include all social groups in the community, especially vulnerable groups that are less visible but more likely to be affected by emergencies. Therefore, we must design the processes of all our work in an ‘inclusive’ way.

It is important to reevaluate the needs and situations of the following groups primarily: Women and children, individuals with disabilities, individuals with chronic illnesses or other health problems, elderly individuals, individuals exposed to gender-based violence, individuals lacking freedom, minority groups, refugees, migrants and seasonal agricultural workers.

Many of the refugees live as crowded families under inadequate sheltering conditions with limited income and often by daily or irregular jobs. In addition, due to language barriers, access to information resources and services can be difficult for them. Despite the cold weather and conditions, refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants are still waiting to cross the border at the Greek border in Edirne. Although the measures taken in Edirne Pazarkule on the subject have met the urgent needs for this high-risk group, supporting refugees and immigrants who are still there to return to their homes safely and taking the necessary precautions upon their arrival will greatly reduce the risk of the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Elderly people or people with chronic illnesses who will catch the COVID-19 virus among the refugee and immigrant population are even more vulnerable.

Seasonal agricultural workers will migrate to different provinces of Turkey starting from April, and 10-12 people will stay in a single tent shared by adults and children. Access to basic needs such as electricity, clean water, toilet or bathroom will be very limited and inadequate. Children will abandon their education and go to the fields. There are also seasonal agricultural workers and families living in agricultural areas as in Adana. They live in the same bad conditions for the 12 months of the year.

Some suggestions on what can be done basically could be as follows:

– Planning together with different people and social groups in order to meet their needs 

– Providing correct and protective information to everyone about COVID-19

– Ensuring access and testing of people with poor health or people who show symptoms of COVID-19

– Providing mental health and protective services to adapt and cope with the extraordinary situation we are in.

– Meeting the special needs of women, elderly, children, people with disabilities and chronic diseases.

– Ensuring access to mechanisms to protect against child abuse, violence against women or other forms of violence, abuse and neglect as well as access to safety.

– Providing all basic services for refugees in Arabic, Persian and other languages

– Taking necessary precautions in terms of health and hygiene by making determination of needs in the seasonal agricultural areas and conducting medical screening

– Development and implementation of protective and preventive measures together with seasonal agricultural workers and agricultural intermediaries

– Taking measures for the protection of children in seasonal agricultural areas

– Providing sanitary materials for homeless people, for those living in seasonal agricultural areas and those who have to work in other crowded areas.

– Establishing shelter areas such as indoor sports halls for the homeless and taking necessary health and hygiene measures

– Providing food for healthy eating for the homeless

– Reporting to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services when a child living or working on the street is detected, and taking the necessary measures (Alo183 can be called.)

– Forming the mobile teams for the homeless in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, taking health and protection measures

– Embracing all works at local level and local practices reaching rural areas.

As an association, you describe your mission as “providing access to the basic rights and needs of communities affected by disasters”. The epidemic unfortunately coincided precisely with the outbreak of a new and brutal refugee crisis. How do you advance your work as the Support to Life Association? Which points did you focus on? Do you have any collaborations with the relevant institutions of the state and with other NGOs?

As the Support to Life Association, we carry out our work in 8 provinces: Adana, Mersin, Istanbul, Batman, Mardin, Diyarbakır, Hatay and Urfa. We carry out studies for the protection of refugees and their access to means of living and for the prevention of child labor among seasonal agriculture. We have now moved our offices to our homes and switched to a remote support model. Although this remote working model limits our many activities, we continue to develop different methods. Our teams serving in the field reach refugees and local community members via mobile phone, internet and via hotlines. Our first study after COVID-19 was to provide accurate information in Turkish and Arabic and to answer people’s questions. Our informative work continues on different topics. For example, during this process, we have developed special content such as what we can do to protect our mental health or as how we can explain COVID-19 to our children, and we continue to spread it for everyone’s access. We continue to provide specialized support such as remote case management, legal counseling, and psychological support to our current clients through our experts, we reach out to families who may be at risk and provide follow-ups. We try to continue our Turkish courses and skill development trainings over internet classes.

Our priority is to inform people about COVID-19, to provide access to services in this process and to support families at risk. That’s why we closely follow the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization and act according their official information and decisions. As part of humanitarian aid, we follow working groups coordinated by the United Nations, as well as developments and information on global humanitarian aid platforms for COVID-19.

We are working on content on seasonal agricultural labor and protection from COVID-19 within the scope of combating child labor in seasonal agriculture. We can share it with you next week. There are great works of Çorbada Tuzun Olsun Association for homeless people, it can be good to contact them as they specialize on this issue.