Evaluating Understandings of State and Federal Pandemic Policies: The Situation of Refugees from the Congo Wars in Tampa, Florida

Abstract

This article addresses underlying inequities for resettling refugees that have been exposed by COVID-19, including language barriers and access to public health information, food, health care, housing, and employment. It also speaks to theoretical concerns about the role of structural forces in creating increased health risks for vulnerable populations. Fieldwork that began in May 2020 investigated the extent to which refugees in Tampa understand and can operationalize the state and federal pandemic policies that have been put in place in the wake of the spread of COVID-19. The issues include understanding of COVID-19 and how it is transmitted, ability and willingness to practice distancing, access to food assistance, ability to help children with remote learning, and workplace disruptions, including the need to file for unemployment. Our method speaks to community-based approaches to anthropological fieldwork in pandemic situations, while demonstrating that critical language skills and in-depth cultural knowledge are essential for evaluating public health pandemic messaging and helping vulnerable populations.

Food Insecurity among International Migrants during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

“…Thirty-seven papers contained original research, four papers were commentaries [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ], one was a viewpoint [ 29 ], one was an opinion piece [ 30 ], two were literature searches [ 31 , 32 ], and one was a letter to the editor [ 33 ]. ( Table 2 ).…”

“…( Table 2 ). Thirty-five studies mainly or totally used the term “food insecurity” [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 ], six used “food security” [ 25 , 30 , 32 , 63 , 64 , 65 ], and five used both [ 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 ].…”

“…Among the 46 studies included in this scoping review [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 ], half of them were conducted in America [ 28 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 40 , 42 , 43 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 <...…”

“…Eight papers included exclusively African migrants (from Ghana, Zambia, Congo, Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan, and other African countries that were not specified) [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 32 , 40 , 45 , 65 , 66 ]. Eleven studies focused exclusively on Latin American migrants (from El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Cuba, Honduras, Puerto Rico, and other countries in Central and South America) [ 28 , 31 , 33 , 42 , 47 , 48 , 54 , 61 , 63 , 69 , 70 ], and two studies included migrants from Oceania (Republic of the Marshall Islands) [ 43 , 49 ]. Ten studies did not specify the region of origin of the migrant population [ 30 , 37 , 46 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 56 , 58 , 59 ].…”

“…With regard to the categories of the migrant population, refugees and asylum seekers were studied in 20 papers [ 25 , 26 , 32 , 33 , 37 , 38 , 40 , 41 , 45 , 47 , 52 , 53 , 55 , 57 , 58 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 ]. Migrant workers were presented in five papers [ 30 , 34 , 36 , 57 , 60 ], and three papers studied international students [ 39 , 56 , 66 ].…”