UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES

STUDY GUIDE
Topic: The Question of the Impact of COVID-19 on Displaced People in
Developing Countries

Abridged for Fun With MUN 2023

 Introduction

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a UN agency with the mandate
to provide aid and protection for forcibly displaced individuals around the world, while helping
them to find a safe and permanent home. Their activities include providing necessary supplies to
displaced communities during times of emergency, running camps for people who do not have
better options for shelter, ensuring access to physical and mental healthcare for the displaced as
well as working with policymakers to implement legislation that will help displaced communities.1

The work of the UNHCR has become especially important recently, as the COVID-19 pandemic
has had a disproportionate impact on displaced people due to their unstable livelihoods and
under-average living conditions. The conditions and events that force people out of their homes
usually occur in countries that lack significant economic strength and are surrounded by other
countries with fragile economies.2 What this means for displaced people is that many of their
options involve being under the jurisdiction of countries that lack the finance and resources to
provide for them, which is especially true during the worldwide economic decline of the pandemic.

1
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (n.d.). About us. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://www.unhcr.org/about-us.html
2
Phineas J F R. (n.d.). 5 of the biggest reasons why people become refugees. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/reasons-why-people-become-refugees/
Study Guide (UNHCR) 2
 Key Definitions

Displaced People: Displaced people are defined as those who have been forced to flee their home
regions as a result of ‘persecution, conflict, generalised violence, or human rights violations’.3 The
two largest categories of displaced people who fall under the mandate of the UNHCR are refugees
and internally displaced persons.

Refugees: Refugees are people who cross international borders to escape conflict and persecution in
their home countries. By international law, refugees must not be sent back to their home countries
if it puts their lives or liberties at risk.4

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): IDPs are people who are forced to flee conflict and persecution
but remain within the borders of their home countries. They might either have chosen to remain
within their home countries in hopes that the situation will improve, or are forced to remain due to
a lack of the means to undertake the journey or their domestic situations preventing them from
finding and crossing a border.5

Developing Countries: Developing countries are generally defined as countries with low economic
output relative to its population size. Many developing countries do not have resources, financial or
otherwise, to guarantee adequate living conditions for large swathes of their populations, especially
the displaced people whom they host.6

Non-refoulement: The principle of non-refoulement is the widely accepted basis of international

foreign policy towards refugees, stating that refugees must not be returned to the situations they
fled from that would put them in direct danger.7

Resettlement: The act of integrating refugees into a different society where they can live without
being put in constant danger, usually in a country with more stable and conducive conditions.

3
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (n.d.). UNHCR Global Trends 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://www.unhcr.org/556725e69.html
4
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (n.d.). Refugees. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://www.unhcr.org/refugees.html
5
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (n.d.). Internally displaced people. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://www.unhcr.org/internally-displaced-people.html
6
Kuepper, J. (2020, October 18). What is a developing country? Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-a-developing-country-1978982
7
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (n.d.). Note on NON-REFOULEMENT (submitted by the HIGH
COMMISSIONER). Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://www.unhcr.org/excom/scip/3ae68ccd10/note-non-refoulement-submitted-high-commissioner.html
Study Guide (UNHCR) 3
Study Guide (UNHCR) 4
 Recent Developments

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first vaccine to be approved for public use, with the United
Kingdom being the first country to approve it on 2 December 2020.8 Since then, multiple other
vaccines with varying production costs and effectiveness rates, such as the Moderna vaccine and
Sinopharm vaccine, have also been approved and purchased for distribution by countries all over
the world, whether developed or developing. However, developed countries have greater financial
ability to purchase larger quantities of higher quality vaccines, while developing countries are either
only able to purchase vaccines with lower proven effectiveness rates or do not have the means to
purchase any at all. In fact, as of February 2021, more than 130 countries, including those hosting
displaced communities, had not received a single dose of the vaccine.9

However, vaccinations are still available for displaced people residing in developing countries.
Jordan, which hosts one of the world’s largest refugee populations, started its national vaccination
programme on 13 January 2021, which was one of the first vaccination programmes in the world to
include refugees.10 In fact, the first UNHCR registered refugee was vaccinated in Jordan the day
after the programme started.11 Lebanon announced shortly after that its vaccination programme
would include refugees as well, and there are hopes that other countries hosting displaced people
will follow suit.

However, as of April 2021, there has been no news of plans to vaccinate displaced communities by
other developing countries with high forcibly displaced populations like Turkey.12

8
Conditions of Authorisation for Pfizer/Biontech Covid-19 vaccine. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid
19/conditions-of-authorisation-for-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine
9
Andrew, S. (2021, February 18). More than 130 countries haven't received a single Covid-19 vaccine, while 10 countries have
administered 75% of all vaccines, the UN says. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/18/world/united-nations-130-countries-no-vaccine-trnd/index.html
10
New shipment Of Pfizer-Biontech vaccine to arrive in Jordan Sunday: Hijjawi. (2021, February 14). Retrieved April 11, 2021,
from https://en.royanews.tv/news/25524/2021-02-14
11
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (n.d.). Refugees receive COVID-19 vaccinations in Jordan. Retrieved April
11, 2021, from https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2021/1/5ffffe614/refugees receive-covid-19-vaccinations-jordan.html
12
Grandi, F. (n.d.). When will refugees get a Covid-19 vaccine? Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://news.trust.org/item/20210203125327-6cng0/
Study Guide (UNHCR) 5
 Key Issues
The Livelihoods of Displaced People

Like many other aspects of life for displaced people in developing countries, the livelihoods of
displaced individuals are extremely fragile. In Turkey, which hosts the largest population of refugees
consisting mostly of Syrians escaping the civil war, most refugees work in the informal labour
market where they are subject to low wages and exploitation. While a work permit programme has
been launched to ensure that refugees have access to legal work and are protected by employment
contracts, they must be requested for by employers, most of whom are reluctant to do so due to the
administrative hassle and the costs involved.

The instability of the livelihoods of displaced people is made even worse by the economic impact
of the pandemic. Most refugees settle into some of the poorest communities in their host
countries. Host countries are then responsible for providing livelihood support for both their
citizens and their refugees, exhausting their already limited finances. However, without continued
access to financial resources, displaced people will not be able to provide for themselves or find a
long-term plan to generate income as soon as possible once the pandemic ends. As a result, not
only are the livelihoods of displaced communities threatened during the pandemic, but after the
pandemic as well.13

Policies implemented to minimise the spread of the coronavirus such as nationwide lockdowns
have also impacted the livelihoods of displaced people. With most displaced people being
dependent on informal employment, restrictions on movement mean that many of them no longer
have access to their main source of income, given that they do not have the option to work from
home. In some cases, unemployment caused by movement restrictions has led to even more
displacement as the unemployed leave their places of residence to seek new sources of
employment, further complicating the issue.14

Social Well-Being of the Displaced

The COVID-19 pandemic has opened up even more opportunities for various groups to commit
acts of racism and xenophobia against displaced communities through misinformation campaigns

13
Trotsenburg, A. (2020, June 19). Forced displacement during covid-19: A crisis for refugees and host communities in
developing countries. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/forced-displacement-during-covid-19-crisis-refugees-host-communities
developing-countries-world-refugee-day
14
Braam, D. (n.d.). COVID-19 impact on health and livelihoods in a complex emergency. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://environmentalmigration.iom.int/blogs/covid-19-impact-health-and-livelihoods-complex emergency
Study Guide (UNHCR) 6
 about the spread of COVID-19. In Myanmar, the Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine people have been
blamed for bringing the coronavirus to the country. These minority groups had also been
threatened with severe punishment by the previous civilian government for trying to return from
Bangladesh to seek medical aid, even though ethnic Burmese in Thailand are being actively
encouraged to return home.15 In addition, actions taken by authorities to minimise the spread of
COVID-19 within the community could leave out the interests of displaced individuals as well.
Border closures in the Mediterranean have caused refugees from African countries like Libya trying
to cross the sea to be turned away by European ports, violating the principle of non-refoulement.16

Travel restrictions and border closures have also directly affected resettlement efforts, with the
number of refugees resettled in 2020 being only a quarter of the number resettled in 2019.36 This
puts many refugees whose resettlement plans have been cancelled at risk. Additionally, before
resettlement, most refugees sell most of their belongings and property. When resettlement plans are
cancelled at the last minute, refugees have almost no way of getting back their much-needed
belongings or regaining their residences and jobs to sustain themselves while waiting for
opportunities for resettlement to open again.38

15
Nachemson, A. (2020, September 16). Racism is fueling Myanmar's deadly second wave of Covid-19. Retrieved April 11,
2021, from https://thediplomat.com/2020/09/racism-is-fueling-myanmars-deadly second-wave-of-covid-19/
16
Kakissis, J., & Bashir, A. (2021, February 13). Asylum-seekers make harrowing journeys in pandemic, only to be turned back.
Retrieved April 11, 2021, from https://www.npr.org/2021/02/13/949182773/the
harrowing-journeys-to-safety-of-asylum-seekers-during-a-pandemic
Study Guide (UNHCR) 7
Scope of Debate

Maintaining the Welfare of Displaced People

Due to a lack of adequate healthcare infrastructure and poor hygiene conditions in displacement
camps, displaced individuals are much more vulnerable to COVID-19 than other groups. Finding
measures to prevent the virus from reaching and spreading within these communities and quickly
testing individuals for the virus is imperative in minimising the consequences when infections
occur. Inadequate testing must also be addressed as the resultant misleadingly low figures can
cause insufficient aid to be rendered to displaced communities. Improvements to existing
healthcare infrastructure should also be considered such that those who are already infected are
able to receive necessary treatment. While foreign aid can be considered, if the more fundamental
issues that make displaced communities vulnerable to health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic
are not resolved, then the impact of the virus on displaced communities may not be effectively
mitigated.

Protecting the Rights of Displaced People

While basic principles such as that of non-refoulement form the baseline for foreign policy
regarding displaced people, the pandemic has made it much easier for both source countries and
host countries to violate these principles. With countries passively harming displaced communities
by implementing measures for public health that disrespect the practices of displaced communities,
actively instigating hatred against displaced communities by blaming them for the pandemic,
forcing displaced people to return to the poor living conditions they are fleeing from and more, the
rights that displaced people are entitled to have more frequently been violated, whether
intentionally or unintentionally, since the pandemic started. It is thus the responsibility of the
international community to make the decision on the best course of action such that the rights of
displaced people remain protected while the legitimate concerns of involved countries regarding
the displaced community and the pandemic do not go unaddressed.

Ensuring Access to Humanitarian Aid

In addition, the pandemic has significantly hindered the movement of both goods and personnel
between countries, which has not only affected international trade but the supply of humanitarian
aid to displaced communities as well. These communities rely heavily on external sources for
necessities and self-sustenance due to the poor conditions of their home regions, having been
ravaged by conflict or disasters. In even more dire circumstances such as that of Venezuela in 2019,

Study Guide (UNHCR) 8

 the lowest required amount of funding for supplies and livelihood can reach over a billion dollars.17
Being deprived of this external aid will affect the communities’ ability to sustain themselves. In
addition, the financing of humanitarian aid efforts has also been diverted to other initiatives that
focus on directly combatting the pandemic, further reducing the supply of resources for displaced
communities.

Clark, G. (2019, December 4). A record number of people will need help worldwide during 2020: UN Humanitarian
17

Overview. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1052731

Study Guide (UNHCR) 9
Potential Solutions

Education on the Pandemic

Knowledge is key when it comes to managing a health crisis. If those who are at risk of infection
are not aware of the issue and what they can do to contain it, the risk of the disease spiralling out
of control increases drastically. As such, official measures to educate displaced communities on the
coronavirus can be considered. However, the impact that education has on containing the spread
of the virus is difficult to gauge, and could lead to the inefficient use of resources should
educational programmes be ineffective.

The small-scale nature of current education programmes means that large swathes of displaced
people remain uneducated on the pandemic. The focus of these efforts — on maintaining hygiene
rather than understanding the virus — may also limit their impacts.

Other than general education on the pandemic situation and the virus, more specialised training on
how to make essentials like masks or how to operate healthcare equipment needed to care for the
sick can also be organised to make the displaced community more self-sufficient.

Protection of Economic and Social Well-Being

With the livelihoods of millions of displaced individuals threatened by the pandemic, measures
must be taken to ensure that they remain able to access basic necessities for their own survival.
Social safety nets and other social welfare programmes can either be devised or expanded to
include displaced people, though this raises the issue of whether a country’s financial resources are
sufficient to support their displaced communities along with the nation’s population. Social safety
nets are also only a short-term solution to the long-withstanding problem of a lack of secure
employment opportunities for displaced people.

The social well-being of displaced people have been threatened as well. While delegates can
consider a comprehensive code of conduct for how governments are to treat the displaced,
delegates must be cognisant the non-binding nature of this code makes it such that breaches of the
code can easily be overlooked.

Comprehensive Movement Restrictions

Study Guide (UNHCR) 10
While restricting travel across international borders is necessary during a global pandemic, the
repercussions this has on people trying to flee the conditions of their home countries can and
should be minimised. One measure that can be considered is lowering restrictions on cross-border
travel for countries neighbouring known conflict zones. Refugees that have been identified
crossing the border can then be put in separate quarantine facilities in refugee camps to ensure
that they do not spread the virus if they are infected. However, this could lead to high influxes of
refugees that exceed the host country’s accommodation capabilities. It might also be difficult to
ensure that all refugees who have just crossed the border are quarantined, and separate quarantine
facilities might take too many resources to set up and maintain. A potential, more conservative
measure is for countries to only open their borders to cases where the refugees trying to cross the
border have no other safe option, as is the case for many African refugees fleeing across the
Mediterranean. Yet, this case-by-case method of accepting refugees can be time-consuming,
especially for the refugees who are surviving on limited supplies. This system could also be abused
by the host countries who could easily turn away refugees on the basis that they still have other
safe avenues to flee to.

Study Guide (UNHCR) 11

 Key Stakeholders

Countries

Sources of Displaced People Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Mali, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Iraq, Turkey*

Host of Displaced People Turkey*, Colombia, Uganda, Pakistan, Germany*, Lebanon,

Bangladesh, Ethiopia

Developed Countries Australia, Belgium, Canada, United States, Netherlands, New Zealand,
Singapore, France, Germany*

** Note that these categories are not mutually-exclusive eg. Turkey is simultaneously a host and a
source of displaced people.

Sources of Displaced People

Of the world’s 79.5 million forcibly displaced people, more than two-thirds of them come from only 7
developing countries.18 Developing countries with conditions that cause displacement are responsible not
only for their domestic situations that continue to displace more and more people in the long term, but
also for caring for the well-being of those displaced within their borders in the short-term.19 Displacement
thus places a burden not only on foreign parties committed to caring for the well-being of the displaced,
but an arguably much heavier one on the governments of the countries where displacement is common.
The COVID-19 pandemic could make matters worse by slowing down efforts to improve domestic
situations in these countries.

The conditions that lend themselves to displacement most frequently occur in developing countries.
Military conflict can arise as a result of poor economic conditions, which could in turn lead to even
poorer economic conditions due to destruction of infrastructure leading to a lack of domestic
industry and markets. In developing countries, there is also more aggressive persecution of minority
demographics due to the need for a scapegoat for the government to maintain legitimacy, making it
unfavourable for these minority groups to stay in their homes. Finally, poor economic conditions
could also lead to higher crime rates, which can cause displacement as it becomes nearly impossible to

18
Reid, K. (2021, February 23). Forced to flee: Top countries refugees are coming from. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/forced-to-flee-top-countries-refugees coming-from
19
Refugee statistics: Key facts on displaced people. (2021, January 13). Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://helprefugees.org/refugees-statistics/
Study Guide (UNHCR) 12
stay in the country without being harassed by criminal groups.20

Hosts of Displaced People

Despite their inadequate finances and infrastructure, developing countries still host 85% of the
world’s displaced population. 94% of these displaced people are in countries that are at risk or
already afflicted by food insecurity, malnutrition and famine. With most refugees being forced to
stay in these countries for up to 20 years due to a lack of resettlement options or improvements in
the situations in their home countries, developing countries are then forced to provide for these
refugees for extended periods of time with extremely limited resources. Many of the countries
hosting refugees are also facing political or economic crises of their own, and the additional burden
of ensuring that refugees are well-cared for could exacerbate these crises as well as make living
conditions worse for the refugees.21 This could cause a certain degree of hostility against the
countries where refugees come from.

A main reason for the high proportion of refugees residing in developing countries is the fact that
developing countries are often in closest proximity to countries that cause displacement, and thus
are the first option for many refugees who are willing to cross international borders for a better
life. This is evident in the fact that 73% of refugees are hosted in countries neighbouring their
home states.22

However, the exodus of refugees to developing countries can only work as a temporary solution and is
ultimately unsustainable for the host communities in the long-term.

Developed Countries

Despite being much more economically prosperous and more capable of providing a stable
livelihood for refugees, developed countries host only 16% of the world’s refugee population,
while developing economies are left to bear the brunt of displacement crises around the world.
Only one of the top ten countries hosting the most refugees is a developed country, which is
Germany with 1.1 million refugees.23 This can be attributed to the fact that most developed

20
Kellenberger, J. (2009, October 23). Root causes and prevention of internal displacement: The ICRC perspective. Retrieved
April 11, 2021, from https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/statement/displacement-statement-231009.html
21
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (n.d.). Poorer countries host most of the forcibly displaced, report shows.
Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2017/2/58b001ab4/poorer-countries-host-forcibly-displaced-report shows.html
22
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (n.d.). Figures at a glance. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html
23
Karasapan, O. (2020, January 28). Sharing the burden of the global refugee crisis. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2020/01/27/sharing-the-burden-of-the-global refugee-crisis
Study Guide (UNHCR) 13
countries are located further away geographically from countries producing refugees. Developed
countries also generally have stricter laws when it comes to border crossing or asylum seeking.
However, this does not mean that developed countries have a minimal role to play with regards to
forced displacement, especially during the pandemic. Even during the economic crisis that came
with the pandemic, developed countries are still much better equipped to provide financial and
humanitarian aid to displaced communities that need them, and can provide needed expertise to
deal with problems plaguing displaced communities on the ground.

Study Guide (UNHCR) 14

Questions A Resolutions Must Answer (QARMA)

1. How can the impact of the spread of COVID-19 within displaced communities in developing
countries be mitigated?
2. What can be done to ensure that the living conditions and well-being of displaced individuals
are maintained during the pandemic?
3. How can the interests of both displaced communities and their host countries who are
struggling with the pandemic be addressed?
4. How can resettlement and reintegration efforts continue safely during the pandemic? - How
can it be ensured that displaced communities continue to have access to humanitarian aid
during the pandemic?
5. What can be done to ensure that countries are accountable for the treatment of their displaced
communities during the pandemic?

Special thanks to:

Dais of UNHCR, RMUN 2021

Izzul Adham Bin Noor Amidin, Olivia Du Yu and Rayner Chew

Study Guide (UNHCR) 15