Institute of Sociology
of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology
of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Gadzhimuradova, G. I. and Rabat, L. (2020), “The situation with Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons amid the Covid-19 pandemic and terrorist threat ”, Research Result. Sociology and management, 6 (2), 62-73. DOI: 10.18413 ...



Gadzhimuradova, G. I. and Rabat, L. (2020), “The situation with Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons amid the Covid-19 pandemic and terrorist threat ”, Research Result. Sociology and management, 6 (2), 62-73. DOI: 10.18413/2408-9338-2020-6-2-0-5
ISSN 2408-9338
DOI 10.18413/2408-9338-2020-6-2-0-5
РИНЦ: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=43145220

Posted on site: 06.12.20

Текст статьи на сайте журнала URL: http://rrsociology.ru/journal/annotation/2081/ (дата обращения 06.12.2020)


Abstract

The article provides an overview of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the lives of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and internally displaced persons in northwestern Syria from Idlib province against the background of the ongoing fighting of ISIS (banned in Russia) in Syria. The article shows the subversive activities of ISIS during the pan- demic not only in the Middle East, but in other regions of the world. Since October 2019, Lebanon has been experiencing the worst economic crisis in recent decades, accompanied by a weakening currency and rising inflation. The Covid-19 outbreak further underscored the country's weak economic system, which created problems for humanitarian organiza- tions to provide assistance to refugees. More than half of registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in poor conditions when access to vital resources, such as drinking water, is limited, which puts them at greater risk of contracting the virus. In addition, the fear of ethnic stigma and unclear prospects of receiving medical care has prevented some refu- gees with suspected corona-like symptoms from seeking medical care because of fears of being deported. Most of the Syrian refugees are represented by Sunni Muslims, but there are representatives of other branches of Islam and Christians of different faiths among them. And all of them faced difficulties associated with the inability to perform religious rites during a pandemic, being on foreign territory and deprived of basic conditions: access to clean running water, visiting mosques and churches, etc. On the other side of the border, in Syrian Idlib, the consequence of the actions of the ISIS terrorist organization (banned in Russia) was the displacement of almost a third of the inhabitants of North- West Syria to the border with Turkey and the weakening of the health infrastructure. Finding themselves in crowded camps with limited access to medical care, thousands of internally displaced people chose to return to places where fierce fighting had recently been fought. In light of the pandemic, a ceasefire was reached in Idlib. However, the conflict is still unresolved, and hostilities may resume at any time.