According to the Kurdish umbrella organisation KCDK-E, at least 97 Kurds have lost their lives in Europe due to the coronavirus. More than 600 have been infected, 40 are currently undergoing treatment. These figures only reflect the extent of the known cases.

KCDK-E knows of 29 deaths in Germany, 23 in England, 22 in Sweden, eleven in France, eight in Belgium, three in the Netherlands and one in Switzerland.

Yüksel Koç, as co-chair of the KCDK-E, spoke to the Yeni Özgür Politika daily and said it seems that it was mainly social events that led to the spread of the virus. "Apparently, despite our warnings, weddings, funerals and family visits in London, Paris, North Rhine-Westphalia and Stockholm between 10 and 25 March played a major role. We think that the deaths are related with these gatherings", the Kurdish politician said, and appealed again to not suspend precautionary measures even in the current relaxation phase.

According to Yüksel Koç, the KCDK-E takes care of the surviving relatives of the deceased: "We contacted the families and helped with the formalities for the funerals and in some cases with the transfer of the dead to Kurdistan.”

Koç points out that since the outbreak of the pandemic, extraordinary conditions have been applied in Europe and the umbrella organisation has adapted its decisions: "For example, we wanted to celebrate Newroz throughout Europe in the sense of Kurdish unity. In addition, the congresses of the local people's councils were already arranged, everything was prepared. However, we have provisionally cancelled all events because the protection of health is the priority."

At the beginning of the pandemic, the KCDK-E set up a crisis team, initially consisting of three doctors. In the meantime, almost forty people from the health sector are working to educate the population about the pandemic and counteract misinformation. Among other things, illustrative material in the various Kurdish dialects has been produced and is being circulated mainly through the social media.

A particular focus of the work of the KCDK-E is the contact with refugees in mass housing. "We have set up local committees to deal with the material and non-material needs of people in refugee accommodation. In most cases direct contact is not possible, so we try to draw attention to the situation in the shelters in the social media. In Germany, Switzerland and Greece this has led to good results."