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Images of hundreds of people queuing for food show the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on working poor immigrants in rich Switzerland, reports CNN. Volunteers prepared around 1,500 packages for the needy, who gathered in front of a skating rink in Geneva starting at 5 a.m. /
“At the end of the month, my pockets are empty. We have to pay the bills, the insurance, everything. It’s great, because there is food for a week, a week of relief … I don’t know for next week,” said Ingrid Berala . Geneva part-time resident of Nicaragua.
The pandemic exposed the drama of the poor in Geneva.
According to Charity, in a country of almost 8.6 million, 660,000 people in Switzerland lived in poverty in 2018. These included single parents and those with a low level of education, who found it very difficult to find work after losing their jobs. . More than 1.1 million people are at risk of poverty, which means they have less than 60% of the average income, which was 6,538 Swiss francs ($ 6,736), for a full-time job in 2018. Poor families are now, in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, at a standstill from which it is almost impossible to get out without the help of their peers.
Swiss bank UBS has calculated that Geneva is the second most expensive city in the world for a family of three, with Zurich in first place. While average incomes are also high, this does not help those who live today.
“I think many people are aware of this, but it is different to see it with their own eyes. I have seen people cry because they could not believe this was happening in their country,” said Silvana Matromatteo, head of the Aid Group of the Solidarity Caravan of Geneva. The pandemic has revealed how hundreds of thousands of poor people live: we want to help everyone. “After all, they are all hardworking people, but they need help.”
“In Geneva, one of the richest cities in the world, there have always been people living in precarious conditions, especially all people who work as homes, in agriculture, on construction sites or in hotels and wake up at night without a place. because of COVID-19, “said Patrick Wieland, chief of mission for the group Medecins Sans Frontieres.
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