Jerome Flynn on Covid-19: 'Open your hearts to people fleeing conflict – they now face another deadly battle'

Covid-19 has been tough for many people. I’ve lost people close to me and I've missed the connection with my friends and family but I do consider myself one of the lucky ones. I live in Wales with a few acres and a garden where we've been growing kale, onions, leeks, berries and salad.

When we locked down, my sister and her partner were here staying with me, so we’ve shared some precious time together that otherwise just wouldn’t have been possible.

Just a year ago, I was with another family, in a very different situation. I had travelled to South Sudan with the DEC member charity World Vision UK and was visiting a ‘Protection of Civilians’ camp in the searing hot dusty landscape outside Juba.

The crowded displacement camp is home for 32,000 people – that’s 2.5 times the size of my nearest town of Haverfordwest - it’s jammed full of people who have been forced from their burning homes because of fighting by rebel forces.

I found it one of the most challenging places I've ever been to - and I've been to some camps in Kosovo in the Balkans many years ago. I think it was a combination of the sheer numbers and the 40-degree heat. The family I visited had no real protection – they were either burning from the sun or roasting in the airless tent.

To see the conditions they were living in – the overcrowded tents where they survived cheek by jowl with so many others like them, existing on very little food, children often too afraid to leave the safety of the camps to attend school and to imagine that this is what they were fleeing towards – not away from – was shocking. 

It really challenged me from a human point of view, just to sit and be present with them, with my heart breaking at the thought of what it must be like to live there day after day. I was in complete shock, whilst being in awe of their resilience and dignity.

When you add coronavirus into the mix though, it’s just a devastating scenario. Here at home, I’m able to go out in the fresh air, walk in my garden and feel the breeze on my face.

In these types of crowded camps, there is no greenery, nowhere to find a secluded space or a cool breeze. And the speed at which the virus could spread through a camp is frightening. Many camps have little running water to wash their hands and protect themselves.

The people I met were desperate to be able to return home but were grateful that there was somewhere that could keep them safe. There was a sense that the people there had survived the worst, and there was hope for something better.

With coronavirus now spreading in South Sudan – the 2,400 confirmed cases a clear underestimate because of lack of testing – it doesn’t look so safe. 

The combination of malnutrition and chronic ill health among the population means the virus is likely to have an even more devastating impact. Social distancing is virtually impossible in crowded camps where all amenities are communal. I’ve seen the limited health facilities that do not have the staff or equipment to cope, leaving thousands at risk if the virus goes unchecked and spreads freely.

Alarmingly, this is the case for so many vulnerable populations around the world, not just South Sudan. Millions of lives are at stake as the Covid-19 pandemic hits the world’s most fragile places – countries suffering from conflict. Families who have been forced to flee their homes and lost everything in other places like Yemen, Syria and Somalia face a deadly new threat in this virus.

There are 24 million internally displaced people in total in these fragile states, and an additional 850,000 Rohingya people living in the world’s biggest refugee camp in Bangladesh.

That’s why I’m supporting the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Coronavirus Appeal, which is raising money for the same protection measures that we know have made a difference in the UK. 

In the Protection of Civilians camp, DEC charities World Vision and Concern are providing vital food distributions, additional handwashing facilities and teaching people how to protect themselves. The World Vision team are also trying to help people isolate if they have symptoms.

At times of crisis, it's so easy to disconnect from the rest of the world and focus on looking after ourselves. But whether it be Africa, the  Yemen or the UK , the suffering is the same , the fear,  the grief for a lost one , the joy and relief of a life saved, we are one human family sharing the same human experience. 

By extending our hearts beyond our borders and helping those less fortunate than ourselves we are spreading some precious love around the planet at a time when it is most definitely needed, and saving lives at the same time.