Abstract
Refugees are already a vulnerable group in society and are in a stressful situation due to their often uncertain legal status in seeking asylum and integration in the new society after migration. Refugees are, in general, at greater risk of poor health outcomes when contracting Covid-19, exacerbated by poor living conditions and difficulties in accessing healthcare. The longer-term social consequences of the pandemic also disproportionately impact refugees, including social isolation, unemployment, and difficulties to obtain correct health information. The aim of this paper is to review the social and health consequences that Covid-19 has brought to the refugees residing in Sweden. This needs to be emphasized in order to mitigate against these likely consequences and improve the overall well-being among such a highly vulnerable group in society. As Covid-19 demonstrates, human health needs to be understood holistically, meaning that the vulnerability of any individuals, or even nations, is a vulnerability for the whole population requiring urgent action.
Highlights
Refugees are already a vulnerable group in society and are in a stressful situation related to often lengthy and unpredictable asylum seeking processes as well as stress due to the challenges of integration in a new country [1, 2]
This paper focuses on refugees as a vulnerable group, and uses Sweden as a case for the reason that the country has a high refugee population as well as having experienced significant exposure to the Covid-19 virus
The aim of this paper is to review the social and health consequences that Covid-19 has brought to the refugees residing in Sweden
Summary
Refugees are already a vulnerable group in society and are in a stressful situation related to often lengthy and unpredictable asylum seeking processes as well as stress due to the challenges of integration in a new country [1, 2] This needs to be emphasized when the world is presently facing a pandemic and rapid spread of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (n-SARS-CoV-2) [3, 4]. We see that some refugee groups have low health-literacy, meaning knowledge about healthcare and personal well-being [14] These factors highlight the importance of better communicating information during a pandemic that needs to be sensitive to different populations and translated quickly for immigrant communities, as well as the broader health effects of poverty and social exclusion. Some have even suggested that Covid might, by presenting the image of a “common humanity,” re-energize the movement for human rights [27]
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