FairPlanet.Support
Support Initiatives
.
giftcovid
May 25, 2020

Provide COVID-19 relief for refugees in South Africa

According to recent estimates, South Africa is home to roughly 5,000,000 refugees - the vast majority of whom are undocumented. For years, refugees in South Africa, both documented and undocumented, have been subject to xenophobia, violence, and discrimination, and were the target of draconian laws infringing on their rights. 

The spread of the coronavirus pandemic to South Africa, where the number of infections and deaths is only expected to soar in the coming months, has turned an already harsh reality for refugees residing there even more deadly and perilous.

According to Human Rights Watch, the South African government’s COVID-19 relief programs, which include food parcels, have been excluding refugees and asylum seekers (many of whom are reportedly LGBTQ people who escaped their home countries due to fear for their lives). 

The South African government has also been using the pandemic lock-down in order to crack down on businesses employing undocumented refugees, declaring them ineligible for government bailout money and forbidding them from re-opening their businesses. 

Gift of the Givers is a South Africa-based non-profit disaster relief organisation aiding people in need across the world. 

“Since its inception in 1992, the organisation has been responsible for the delivery of life-saving goods and on-the-ground support for innumerable people, collectively valued at some R2.8 billion, in more than 43 countries across the globe, including South Africa,” the organisation’s website states.

Gift of the Givers engage in disaster relief response, hunger alleviation, water provision, healthcare, education efforts, and social uplifting in order to assist the most vulnerable in the countries they operate in. 

The organisation has launched a special initiative to tackle the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa, and has been providing critical medical and humanitarian support - focusing on populations and areas that are insufficiently served by the government. 

Among those benefiting from the Gift of the Givers’ COVID-19 efforts in South Africa are refugees and asylum seekers.

Please consider pledging a donation to Gift of the Givers and help them provide critical aid to millions of people vulnerable to the ravages of the pandemic. 

Call to Action
Provide COVID-19 relief for refugees in South Africa
giftofthegivers.org
.
.