Lebanon: Refugees, migrants left behind in vaccine rollout [EN/AR]
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(Beirut) – The Lebanese government’s Covid-19 vaccination program risks leaving behind marginalized communities, including refugees and migrant workers, Human Rights Watch said today. Despite the government’s promises of an equitable program, the effort has been tainted by political interference and a lack of information.
United Nations data shows that Syrian and Palestinian refugees have died from Covid-19 at a rate more than four and three times the national average, respectively. Yet, according to the government’s online Covid-19 vaccine registration and tracking platform, only 2.86 percent of those vaccinated and 5.36 percent of those registered to receive vaccinations are non-Lebanese, even though they constitute at least 30 percent of the population.
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Lebanon’s vaccine roll-out is at risk of marginalising refugees and migrant workers who make up a third of the crisis-hit country’s population, Human Rights Watch warned on Tuesday.
“With one in three people in Lebanon a refugee or migrant, a third of the population risks being left behind in the vaccination plan,” said HRW researcher Nadia Hardman.
“The government needs to invest in targeted outreach to build trust with long-marginalised communities or the COVID-19 vaccination effort is doomed to fail.”
In February, Lebanon started a mass vaccination campaign that Health Minister Hamad Hassan said would cover everyone living in the country regardless of their nationality.
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Refugees and migrant workers in Lebanon are at risk of missing out on Covid-19 shots, a rights group said on Tuesday.
Government data shows the vaccination rate among Palestinians, Syrians and migrant workers, who collectively make up a third of Lebanon’s population, is so low that it could jeopardise nationwide efforts to fight the disease, Human Rights Watch reported. As we know from a year of Covid prevention measures, none of us are safe until we all are. A failure to implement a vaccination plan that reaches a third of the population grossly undermines Lebanon’s nationwide efforts, Nadia Hardman, a refugee and migrant rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, told
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