Permanently locked down: the impact of COVID-19 on the Palestinian refugee population

Abstract

This article analyses the health, economic and social impact of COVID-19 on the Palestinian refugee population located in the different areas in which the UNRWA (the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees) works, focusing on refugee camps and how the pandemic has exacerbated their inhabitants’ isolation, exclusion and lack of protection. In doing this, the study aims to sketch out lines of comparative analysis on certain key issues related to the effects of COVID-19 on long-term refugee populations: the impact on permanent camps and suburbanised spaces, the overlapping of prolonged emergency situations and the accumulated deficiencies in the protection and reception systems in settings of armed conflict and exclusion.

Keywords

• middle east
• palestinian refugees
• unrwa
• pandemic
• covid-19
• protection
• refugee camps
• exclusion