Let Us Keep Refugees In Mind This Ramadan

Let Us Keep Refugees In Mind This Ramadan

By Andrew Mayende

@andrewmakokha

Ramadan is ultimately the most precious month in the Islamic calendar (Hijri) and it is obligatory for Muslims the world over to fast in the month of Ramadan.

This year’s Ramadan however will be one of its kind since it comes at a time when the whole world is shrinking and in low spirits due to the outbreak of the ravaging covid-19 pandemic. This in itself would mean that many people will not be able to visit friends and family or their local mosque.

Muslims all over the world fast and this is important during Ramadan as it allows Muslims to devote themselves to their faith and come closer to Allah.

However as this goes on, there is a section of society who live as refugees. These are people who have lived in impoverished conditions, many have lost trace of their loved ones but still clinging onto hope, many have lost their property and many more live with painful scars of how they watched their loved ones losing life in war or along their migration routes.

Having said this, we realize that the difficulties being faced during this holy month this year are especially exacerbated among migrants and refugees.

Millions of Muslims will be praying for better days and the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, some will be caring for loved ones who have fallen ill because of it while others will have to cope with the loss of their main source of income or survive on reduced salaries due the uncaring impact of the pandemic on the economy.

As nations close off their borders, many more refugees continue to lack resources to protect themselves from the virus at a time when they should be celebrating with their loved ones most of whom have remained a glimmer of hope but mostly despair at the sad reality that they may never meet again.

The difficulties being faced at this point in time are especially exacerbated among migrants and refugees based on their vulnerable state. The rallying call should be that we are equal and we all deserve a chance to excel, to shine, to love and to be loved, to reach our potential and to boldly empower the next generation through our triumph in a wide array of fields.

While in Kenya the statistics are not grim yet, many xperts believe that containing the covid-19 outbreak in refugee camps will be particularly challenging. From Lebanon to Ethiopia all the way to Kenya, there are more than 25 million refugees and 41 million internally displaced people in the world today. They are, to say the least, a fragile and vulnerable segment of society. Many of them have had to flee violence with nothing but few clothes on their backs. They live in overcrowded refugee camps where social distancing is not practicable. In certain camps, they do not even have access to even the most basic of amenities such as running water, making it a tall order to keep viral infections at a distance.

Globally, many refugees and asylum seekers have been yearning to escape this cruelty of life by applying for resettlement in other countries. This is a lengthy and more often complicated process that sometimes goes for several years to complete. With the current twist of closed borders, cancelled flights and courts working on a limited basis, the hope for a better tomorrow has coldly been put on hold.

The vulnerable, amongst them refugees, in society should to be able to celebrate the holy month with dignity, too. Many refugees at this point are left to spend Ramadan in a sorry state, with little access to aid as governments and international organisations divert funds to combat coronavirus.

During this Holy Month of Ramadan, the international community must remember  the frail in society and bear in mind that the vulnerable should also celebrate the holy month with dignity, just as you and me might celebrate with dignity.

RAMADAN MUBARAK.