“We will not die from Coronavirus, but from hunger.” How do state and humanitarian policies further compound the risks that refugees are facing during the Coronavirus pandemic? In this post, Jasmin Lilian Diab examines UNHCR’s response to Covid-19 and the impact of social distancing and isolation policies on Syrian refugees living in Lebanon. Thus far, UNHCR has focused on preventative health policies in response to Covid-19, such as promoting hand washing, disinfecting and isolation. However, state-led policies and structures already in place, such as preventing Syrian refugees’ access to the formal labour force and health care, and UNHCR’s lack of focus on financial and food aid, further compound the precarious nature of many refugees’ lives, lives already made precarious by the ongoing financial crisis in Lebanon. Diab argues that UNHCR’s response requires us to carefully reflect on ‘issues that are essential for the survival of refugees and displaced persons in Lebanon during the pandemic,’ and highlights the dangers of policies that are not rights based and therefore put refugees at increased risk.