"In the current extreme health situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, member States cannot neglect the terrible plight of refugees in camps and must provide humanitarian assistance to refugees in great need," said Swiss Socialist Pierre-Alain Fridez, Chair of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Wednesday 25 March.
However, Mr. Fridez described as "logical" the decision of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to suspend the resettlement of refugees from camps to other countries, as it came at a time when borders were being closed to stop the pandemic.
But this measure in no way excludes that these people are "entitled to have their lives protected", Fridez warned. "Our countries will overcome the COVID-19 crisis. In order to survive, we must remain humane and supportive, and so we must not forget the weakest in our society", he concluded. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)