Evaluation Note/ Güven Sak, Omar Kadkoy

The world is now engaged in containing the COVID-19 breakout and its consequences. In the age of Coronavirus, however, forcibly displaced people should not be left behind: Of the world’s 79.5 million forcibly displaced, out of whom 45.7 million are internally displaced people (IDPs), 20.4 million are refugees, and 4.2 are million asylum seekers, all should be at the forefront of the G20’s agenda.

COVID-19 and IDPs: Unknown fate

The spread of the virus exacerbates already stretched structural shortcomings in both countries of origin and hosts. Take for example Syria, the almost decade long war has forcibly displaced 11.7 million Syrians: a staggering 55 percent of the pre-war Syrian population in 2010. To seek safety, the 6.1 million internally displaced Syrians relocated to other Syrian provinces or built makeshift camps next to borders – the densest being across from Turkey’s border where 1.04 million Syrian IDPs reside in 1,277 camps. Applying physical distancing in makeshift camps is burdensome since tents are tightly squeezed next to each other. Therefore, the potential spread of the virus is higher and exposes IDPs to a greater risk of contracting COVID-19.

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