UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi concluded his visit to Syria and Jordan with a pledge to maintain assistance to the most vulnerable as the situation in Syria continues to be extremely difficult for Syrian and refugee populations. Following a recent spike in COVID-19 infections in Syria and Jordan, including the first six confirmed cases in Jordan’s two main Syrian refugee camps, UNHCR continues to ramp up measures to confront and contain the spread of COVID-19 among UNHCR’s persons of concern.

UNHCR's report on consequences of underfunding, released on 18 September, describes the COVID-19 pandemic as a ‘force multiplier’, increasing the needs of the displaced population including refugees in many countries while also making those needs more difficult to address.

A series of fires at the Reception and Identification Centre in Moria (Lesvos, Greece) on 8-10 September left 12,000 asylum-seekers and refugees without shelter. UNHCR is supporting the government-led response by scaling up immediate support to this urgent crisis and is seeking to mobilize additional resources to prevent the spread of COVID-19 through adequate health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) capacity.

80% of protection clusters (21 out of 26) report escalating conflict and/or political instability since the outbreak of COVID-19. This is undermining efforts to curb the spread of the virus, triggering new displacements, reducing safe access to vital health and sanitation services and impeding life-saving protection and humanitarian services.

UNHCR has released the report “Coming Together for Refugee Education” which notes that half of all refugee children are out of school and calls for immediate and bold action by the international community to beat back the catastrophic effects of the coronavirus.

In a press release, UNHCR alerted that more than three quarters of Nicaraguan refugees and asylum-seekers in Costa Rica are going hungry, eating only once or twice a day as a result of the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, visited Beirut to support and listen to the plight of all those affected by the devastating blast. Beyond the immediate and longer-term impact of the tragic explosion of 4 August, UNHCR is concerned about the combined effect of a severe economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. These three factors together are harming the most vulnerable and poorest parts of the population throughout the country.

In a press release, UNHCR welcomed Canada’s announcement to open pathways to permanent residency for asylum-seekers in the healthcare sector who have worked on the frontlines of the country’s COVID-19 response.

After the deadly and devastating blast in Beirut on 4 August, UNHCR rushes to support the government-led response. The list of more than 200 fatalities also includes at least 34 reported refugee victims so far. The massive explosion adds to the already severe economic crisis that had pushed many Lebanese and refugees deeper into poverty, further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the beginning of UNHCR’s COVID-19 response in Southern Africa, almost 1,900 health workers have been trained on COVID-19 prevention and response, nearly 4,400 additional hand washing facilities have been established and over 329,300 households received soap for handwashing to prevent COVID-19.