Vulnerabilisation of Refugees: Covid-19—Related Experiences from Accommodation Centres in Germany

Inadequate living conditions in collective accommodation centres for refugees and asylum seekers—such as issues of overcrowding, privacy, or segregation—have negative consequences for the health and well-being of the residents and can lead to accumulated experiences of violence. We borrow from psychoanalytic, feminist, and existential theories and argue how these experiences can engender vulnerability. However, we also underline that refugees and asylum seekers should not be considered vulnerable per se. People who fled from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe against all odds, and who are confronted with completely new and unfamiliar experiences in the resettlement country possess tremendous strength and power. We rather point to structural forces that contribute to the vulnerabilisation of refugees and asylum seekers. We focus on the context of refugee accommodation and emphasise how structures and processes deem refugees and asylum seekers vulnerable and can disturb their sense of emplacement. We support this by analysing women’s experiences in collective accommodation centres in Germany during the Covid-19 pandemic.