Mengia Tschalaer

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the lives of billions of people across the world. Globally, measures to stop its spread have been drastic: businesses have shuttered, strict travel restrictions have been imposed, social distancing measures have been taken, and public and private hygiene have been encouraged. People have been advised to stock up on supplies and start working from home, where possible.

“I just sit on my bed and wait,” Livia*, a lesbian asylum seeker from Uganda who is living in a 200-person refugee camp in the German state of Bavaria, recently told us during a phone interview. She explained that she barely left the small room she shares with another woman, with whom she cannot communicate because they do not speak a common language, since Bavaria went into complete lockdown to halt the spread of COVID-19 more than a month ago.

"I just sit on my bed and wait," Livia*, a lesbian asylum seeker from Uganda who is living in a 200-person refugee camp in the German state of Bavaria, recently told us during a phone interview. She explained that she barely left the small room she shares with another woman, with whom she cannot communicate because they do not speak a common language, since Bavaria went into complete lockdown to halt the spread of COVID-19 more than a month ago.