My name is Shams but I am also known as Erfan. I’m a Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, currently living in an International Organisation for Immigration (IOM) shelter in Indonesia. Most people are just finding out about life in lockdown but I’ve been living it for years. Not surprisingly, my fellow refugees and I have found it causes severe psychological and physical distress. All this has just got worse with the pandemic.
Before the outbreak of Covid-19, I filled my days studying, exercising and swimming at a nearby beach. But under the lockdown we are all confined to an overcrowded shelter with no facilities. Social distancing is not possible when you live in an IOM shelter. The 230 people here live eight to a room designed for four, and we all share the same bathroom, the same kitchen, the same stairways, the same space. There is no hand sanitiser and there are no masks.
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- Tags: Afghanistan, Erfan Dana, Indonesia, Issue 20