“We should not be surprised if there is a massive impact on migration in the coming months and years.”
(Jagan Chapagain, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies)
Last week the head of the International Red Cross made news when he predicted a huge new wave of migrants/refugees attempting to break into Europe (and elsewhere) driven by hunger at home and the promise of a shot to magically make the Chinese Virus go away.
He was primarily focusing on predictions for Europe, but it would all surely apply to our US borders as well.
See my post at ‘Frauds and Crooks’this morning about measures the Dems would like to put in place to hamstring any efforts to curtail migration. You can expect those to be on the front burner if the President loses to Joe Biden in November and the House and Senate are controlled by radical Dems.
Coronavirus crisis could spark ‘massive’ new migration: Red Cross
The devastating economic toll the coronavirus crisis is taking around the world could spark huge waves of fresh migration once borders reopen, the head of the Red Cross warned in an interview.
Jagan Chapagain, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told AFP he was deeply concerned about the secondary effects of the pandemic.
Jagan Chapagain
“Increasingly we are seeing in many countries the impacts on the livelihoods and the food situation,” he said in an interview at IFRC’s headquarters in Geneva late on Wednesday.
The pandemic and the lockdowns and border closures imposed to halt the spread of the virus have been destroying livelihoods around the planet and are expected to drive many millions more into poverty.
Many people are already faced with the choice of risking exposure to the novel coronavirus or going hungry, Chapagain said, warning that the desperation being generated could have far-reaching consequences.
“What we hear is that many people who are losing livelihoods, once the borders start opening, will feel compelled to move,” he said.
“We should not be surprised if there is a massive impact on migration in the coming months and years.”
More migration forced on people by desperate circumstances, he said, will result in numerous “tragedies along the way”, including more deaths at sea, human trafficking and exploitation.
[….]
Chapagain, a Nepali humanitarian who took over as IFRC Secretary-General in February, also voiced concern that perceived health inequalities in the face of the pandemic might also provoke a rise in migration.
“People could feel that there is a better chance of survival on the other side of the sea,” he said, adding that another major factor would be “the availability of vaccines”.
The World Health Organization is spearheading a push to try to ensure that any coronavirus vaccine developed be deemed a “global public good”, to be made available in an equitable manner across the globe. [My personal guess is that there won’t be a vaccine anytime soon.—ed]
But the United States and others are racing to secure stocks of promising vaccine candidates, and many fear that wealthy nations and groups might gain access to the jabs first.
“If people see that the vaccine is say, for example, available in Europe but not in Africa, what happens? People want to go to a place where vaccines are available,” Chapagain said.
Although I am continuing to post here at RRW, I believe google and others have limited the number of readers who find this blog as Tucker Carlsonreported is happening,see here.
Somehow they have not discovered ‘Frauds and Crooks’yet, so a good number of new readers are finding it. That is why, a post, like the one I wrote yesterday about the Somali refugee wanted on kidnapping and possible murder charges, is posted there.
It could also be that my recent lack of interest in posting at Facebook and Twitterhas slowed RRW‘s readership.
Months ago I began following the dire warnings from the international humanitarian industry and its media arm about the “vulnerable” refugees living cheek by jowl in massive camps where social distancing and wearing masks is not happening.
But, surprisingly the high numbers of cases and deaths that have been predicted are not happening.
See my previous postshere, here, and herefor example.
This morning I dutifully (because I promised I would continue reporting on the topic) began searching for any updates that might have happened while I was busy on other issues over the last couple of weeks, and guess what!
There is no explosion of cases, no COVID “wildfire” blowing through camps.
The only story of any interest was this one, but it mostly focuses on the fear/mistrust Bangladeshis have of the Rohingya refugees living in their country—fear that the refugees are spreading disease, which they aren’t.
I know you have more important concerns, but I think it is very strange that the predicted “carnage” has not arrived. The lack of spread raises questions about the whole concept of social distancing as a means to stop the virus.
Rohingya scapegoated as Bangladesh battles COVID-19
DHAKA — “Two more Rohingya die from corona: Locals in panic” — screamed a recent newspaper headline in southeastern Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar.
Social media has sometimes been equally hysterical. One college teacher posted on Facebook that lack of awareness about COVID-19 among Rohingya refugees from Myanmar “will lead to our collapse.”
In August 2017, more than 740,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya fled a brutal military crackdown in northwestern Myanmar’s Rakhine state and entered Bangladesh as refugees. The United Nations described it as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” Bangladesh already had 200,000 refugees from earlier Rohingya exoduses that began in the 1970s.
The novel coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated resentment in the densely populated country toward the refugees, and also brought further uncertainty to their chances of repatriation.
[….]
Abdul Mozid, a rural physician, runs a drug store near Kutupalong camp, a sprawling settlement made of bamboo and plastic sheets that is home to over 500,000 refugees. “Camps are like slums,” he told the Nikkei Asian Review. “People are scared that this will spread the coronavirus.”
More here, but it is mostly about the Rohingya Muslims and the fact that Burma, a Buddhist country that wants to remain Buddhist, doesn’t want them there, populating and pushing for Muslim control of the country. LOL! The article doesn’t say it, but that is what is happening.
There was this other interesting bit of new news on the issue of the Chinese virus and its impact on refugees, or lack of any great health impact so far.
It is about a World Health Organization study where they are trying to assess the impact of COVID-19 on refugees and migrants. It is called ‘Apart Together.’
Maybe because they aren’t finding enough sick refugees, they are switching focus to find out about the “psychosocial impact of COVID-19.”
(I assume planning to use the results to badger western countries once the panic dies down.)
ApartTogether is a global study to assess the public health social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on refugees and migrants. It is a collaboration between World Health Organization, across its regional offices, the UN System, and a consortium of research centres led by Ghent University (Belgium) and the University of Copenhagen (Denmark). The study aims to better understand how refugees and migrants experience the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 and how they deal with any challenges that have arisen.
In collaboration with key UN partners, the insights from this survey will be used to inform policy and decision-makers on how they can better support refugees and migrants during and after this pandemic. The survey runs until 31 August 2020.
I’ve been telling you for a dozen years that the meatpacking industry is changing America one meatpacking town at a time.
Because they work for lower wages, Hispanics, Asians and African Refugees make up a large swath of the workforce at big plants owned by the likes of JBS and Tyson Foods.
But, all that may change as the global companies find the joys of automation in light of the Chinese virus crisis as I reported here recently. See also Neil Munro writing at Breitbart.
As long as they were getting a steady supply of new cheap immigrant labor the meat giants were not moving quickly to a robotic workforce.
And, long time readers know that federal resettlement contractors and the US State Department have been in cahoots for decades to supply them with refugee laborers.
Now comes another good reason for BIG MEAT to dump all this cheap ‘diverse’ labor.
An organization named Forward Latino and other groups from across the country filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against JBS and Tyson alleging racial discrimination during the COVID-19 response.
The organizations filed an administrative civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture alleging that the Tyson and JBS adopted policies that rejected critical Centers for Disease Control guidance,including social distancing on meat processing lines, to stop the spread of COVID-19 at their processing facilities, according to a news release from Forward Latino.
The lawsuit was filed by the Food Chain Workers Alliance, the Rural Community Workers Alliance, the HEAL Food Alliance, Forward Latino, American Friends Service Committee — Iowa, and the Idaho Organization of Resource Councils. They are represented by Public Justice, Nichols Kaster PLLP, and Towards Justice.
The lawsuit is seeking the termination of financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to Tyson and JBS and for the U.S. Department of Justice to enforce compliance.
If you are wondering exactly how the Black and Brown workers are not treated the same, here is an explanation:
Joe Henry, Forward Latino National Vice President, has been involved with workers rights at meat packing plants during the pandemic.
“Tyson and JBS aren’t even trying to follow CDC guidance by distancing workers on the line or slowing line speed. They’re just trying to make as much profit as quickly as they can with their predominantly black and brown workforce in the factory,” Henry said.
“That’s not the case for their white collar divisions which are made up of more white or Caucasian people — they are allowed to work from home for their health and safety during this pandemic. Because these companies have received over $150 million just this year in taxpayer money, the USDA must investigate this injustice and act immediately to prevent any further worker illnesses and deaths.”
I have literally dozens of posts on the meatpacking industry and how it has been changing America by changing the people. See my tag for meatpackers.
Just as I was writing this post, I see news that another Tyson worker, this time in TN, has died from the Chinese virus.
Endnote: A reminder (again!) that you should be finding a local source of meat and poultry as a part of your family’s preparations for whatever might be headed our way this fall (and into the future).
This is the latest update on the Chinese Virus that we have been hearing for MONTHS will bring “catastrophe” to the world’s “vulnerable” refugee population.
Media vultures waiting to blame Trump (if they could) for refugee deaths from the Coronavirus!
It isn’t happening yet, although one gets the feeling that the liberal media is like vultures just waiting for the “carnage” to begin.
See my previous post here, with links to posts prior to that. The COVID is not exactly running like a “wildfire” through the massive camp for the Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh.
Big test for the concept of social distancing!
The first case was reported in mid-May and the first death at Cox’s Bazar was on June 3rd! Now there are five deaths.
Cox’s Bazar refugee camps: where social distancing is impossible
Social distancing simply isn’t possible for the 1 million Rohingya refugees who live in Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, in southeastern Bangladesh.
Families live in close quarters inside flimsy bamboo shacks, using communal toilets and water facilities. Sometimes the most basic items, such as soap, are lacking.
Most of the Rohingya refugees living in the camp fled there in 2017, following a brutal crackdown by the Myanmar military, which the UN has since said was carried out with “genocidal intent”. On top of psychological trauma, many have underlying health conditions that leave them especially vulnerable to Covid-19.
The UN, and other agencies, have raced to open new facilities in Cox’s Bazar,but equipment is still extremely limited, and it is feared medical centres could be quickly overwhelmed. As of 28 June, 49 cases and five deaths have been recorded.
Kind of makes you wonder if all the social distancing is a bunch of you-know-what and that there is some other reason for the large number of sick Americans.
Previous posts on COVID and Cox’s Bazar can be found in my Rohingya Reportscategory.
And, as of June 17th, the UN/IOM has begun processing refugees to be distributed throughout the west after a brief suspension of the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program.
Checking the data at the Refugee Processing Center, I see that we have admitted another 121 refugees in the two weeks since the hold on resettlement was lifted. In another couple of weeks we should be seeing that number jump as plane tickets are distributed in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Central and South America.
Just so you know the largest ‘welcoming’ states were California, Illinois and Florida. Here is where they went:
During the worst health and economic crisis America has faced in many of our lifetimes, more poor and possibly sick refugees are being flown into a town near you!
Now to Nayla Rush’s excellent analysis of the health and economic consequences of moving more third worlders to America amid the arguably unprecedented time in US history when every American is worried about getting sick and terrified about being unemployed.
The whole issue of refugee health has been given short shrift throughout the entire time I’ve been writing RRW, so it is no surprise that health concerns are not given serious consideration now!
I have 376 posts in my ‘health issues’ category and figured that it would take some rich peoples’ kids coming home with TB before the public would wake up to what we are doing.
Refugee Placement and Medical Concerns Amid a Covid-19 Pandemic and an Economic Crisis
Contagious diseases are key in the determination of inadmissibility to the United States. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) requires all refugees applying for U.S. immigration to receive a medical screening to determine inadmissibility on health grounds.11 Specific health-related conditions that pose a threat to public health (called Class A conditions) are grounds for inadmissibility when identified during the medical examination overseas. One class A condition is pandemic flu. New diseases can be added to the list by executive order of the president of the United States. President Trump has yet to update that list with the Covid-19 virus.
Quarantine regulations apply to everyone trying to enter the United States — whether legally or illegally — including refugees. Federal isolation and quarantine are authorized for several communicable diseases, including “severe acute respiratory syndromes; and influenza caused by novel or re-emerging influenza viruses that are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic.”12 (Emphasis added.)
There is no indication that refugees are being tested for the Covid-19 virus overseas or placed under quarantine upon arrival. We know, for instance, that no special pre-departure Covid-19 precautions or testing seem to have been put in place for those refugees coming from Manus Island and Nauru. When asked about this issue, the Australian Home Affairs spokesperson remained vague, referring to general U.S. mandated pre-departure preparations. Father Giorgio Licini, the general secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea & Solomon Islands, said that “the men did not undergo coronavirus isolation in preparation for their departure.”13 We can assume this to be true of all refugees admitted during this crisis.
But even if they were, why welcome thousands of refugees in the midst of a health and economic crisis?Especially when we know that, on top of being vulnerable to the Covid-19 virus, refugees have specific health needs since they usually come from situations of poor hygienic conditions and health systems with a wide range of unmet health needs (including nutritional deficiencies, hepatitis B infection, tuberculosis infection, parasitosis, etc.) and mental health concerns such as alcohol and drug abuse.14 These health concerns can strain U.S. health and social systems, which are already overwhelmed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Resettlement agency representatives determine where refugees are resettled in the United States (usually, and for practical reasons, in states that host their local affiliates). They decide in which state to place a refugee, officially, in an attempt “to match the particular needs of each incoming refugee with the specific resources available in U.S. communities.”15 But how can states like New York, Michigan, and others (who had to deal with stringent stay-at-home orders, large numbers of Covid-19 cases and deaths, rising unemployment, and limited medical capacity and resources such as hospital beds, ventilators, testing etc.) embrace the arrival of refugees into their communities? Were state and local health officials notified of the placement of refugees? Were state residents — who are being asked to continue making enormous sacrifices — informed of such arrivals and risks?
Moreover, how can refugees achieve “self-sufficiency” in the United States when states are just now coming out of lock-down, businesses are going bankrupt, and the employment situation for both immigrants (legal and illegal) and the native-born is disastrous following April and May employment figures?16 Are they just to rely on parts of the relief funds and resources of the CARES Act that are made available to refugees?
[….]
This report will cover the following points:
Refugee arrivals by nationality and destination since the creation of the president’s Coronavirus Taskforce;
Timeline of announcements by world health authorities and the U.S. government in response to Covid-19;
Placement of refugees in American communities: who gets to decide in which states refugees are resettled;
State and local say in the resettlement process, especially when state residents are asked to make important sacrifices amid a health and economic crisis;
Medical screening of refugees before and after resettlement: inadmissibility to the United States on health-related grounds, overseas medical examination of refugees to determine admissibility, domestic medical examination for newly arriving refugees in the United States, medical examination for adjustment of status;
Refugees’ specific health needs;
Access to healthcare and benefits in the United States; and
Relief funds and resources available to refugees following the CARES Act.
You know intuitively that this is insane—welcoming poor/unhealthy people to America right now—but, if you are looking for some facts go here to read Rush’s whole heavily-footnoted report.
It is about a World Health Organization study where they are trying to assess the impact of COVID-19 on refugees and migrants. It is called 
Contagious diseases are key in the determination of inadmissibility to the United States. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) requires all refugees applying for U.S. immigration to receive a medical screening to determine inadmissibility on health grounds.11 Specific health-related conditions that pose a threat to public health (called Class A conditions) are grounds for inadmissibility when identified during the medical examination overseas. One class A condition is pandemic flu. New diseases can be added to the list by executive order of the president of the United States. President Trump has yet to update that list with the Covid-19 virus.