The webinar on "Refugees and discrimination in the time of pandemic"webinar was held on Monday, May 11, 2020 at 16:00, moderated by Begüm Başdaş. The president of the Research Center on Asylum and Migration (IGAM) Metin Çorabatır and the Administrative Coordinator of the Association for Solidarity with Refugees (Mülteci-Der) Pırıl Erçoban attended the webinar as speakers. In the webinar, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the condition of refugees in Turkey and the current policies was discussed.
Pırıl Erçoban stated that due to the suspension of registration in many countries during the COVID-19 period, unregistered refugees had serious difficulties in accessing many rights, especially in health. Indicating that the problems experienced by refugees, especially unemployment, deepened in the period of COVID-19, Erçoban emphasized that the access to education for refugee children decreased significantly during the pandemic.
Metin Çorabatır stated that while the main agenda of the media before the COVID-19 was the refugees at the borders, during the pandemic the refugees were forgotten, and they were not taken into account even in social aids provided by official institutions. He emphasized that when the borders were opened for the passage of refugees, many refugees left their homes in the hope of reaching Europe. Thus, many refugees did not have any homes to return after the outbreak of the pandemic.