Attachments
Overview
COVID-19 has had a severe impact on economies and livelihoods around the world, as well as on both domestic and international travel.
This has taken an enormous toll on migrant workers – particularly lowskilled and casual labour migrants who tend to migrate seasonally or on a temporary contractual basis – as well as the communities and countries they hail from. With large working-age populations and limited domestic employment opportunities, South Asian countries are a significant source of migrant labour. South Asia is the second highest remittance-receiving region in the world (ILO 20/09/2018), and this money sent back home by migrants plays a crucial role in poverty reduction and improving livelihoods of the households they support. In addition to overseas migrants, there is a significant amount of rural to urban migration for work within countries.
Containment measures imposed in response to the pandemic in both destination and home countries have severely disrupted both the ability of migrants to work, and the freedom of movement needed to enable them to return to their homes safely. In Gulf countries, migrants account for a high proportion of COVID-19 infections, an unsurprising consequence of often crowded, camp-like accommodation that does not allow for physical distancing or adequate hygiene (Guardian 19/04/2020).
Secondary impacts of COVID-19 are emerging, including labour shortages within cities that depend on migrant labourers, the stigmatisation of migrant workers who have returned to their home areas, the inability to access any form of social assistance due to lack of formal contracts, and longer-term mental and physical effects of the journey back to their homes. These impacts raise severe humanitarian concerns for a population that is particularly difficult to assess given the scale of displacement and lack of reliable data.