Archive for the ‘Migrant Crisis’ Category

The Forgotten Victims of COVID-19 Amid Migration Crisis – IDN InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters

By Jacqueline Skalski-Fouts

As the Coronavirus pandemic sweeps the globe, closing cities and shutting borders, migrants fleeing violence, persecution, and seeking a new life are stuck in the midst of a health and economic crisis. In this article, Jacqueline Skalski-Fouts investigates how current conditions could affect the future of migrants impacted by the pandemic and what NGOs and governments can do to help. She is a Global Studies undergraduate student at the University of Virginia.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia, USA (IDN) - As Europe closed borders and suspended flights in early March to combat the spread of COVID-19, undocumented migrants and migrant workers remained stuck in Spain for two months. Many were without living spaces or sources of income after the shutdown, leaving some to take shelter in gyms or out on the streets, some even attempting to swim into Morocco from Ceuta as a last resort.

With most countries closing borders and issuing some form of stay-at-home orders, safety and services dedicated to asylum seekers and refugees has dramatically decreased. The result is many migrants in Morocco and around the world facing dangerous health situations and increased economic insecurity.

Migrants in Morocco, even those with proper documentation, cannot reap the benefits of accessible state aid. For many, income and livelihood depend on mobility. The majority of migrants work in informal jobs (street vendors and uncontracted work such as cleaners), which contribute to 20 per cent of Moroccos economy. With closures, many have no source of income and cannot qualify for any financial support by the government.

Without a source of income, some do not eat every day, and others skip meals. In the current situation, asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrants are more vulnerable to permanent job loss and deportation as movement is restricted.

What does this mean for the future?

Stigmatization, misinformation, and discrimination have led to further restrictions for migrants. False claims and reports spread rumours that migrants carry the virus and spread it throughout communities. In Lebanon, Syrian refugees are targeted with curfews that do not apply to other foreigners or citizens despite the low number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 among Syrian refugees (only 1.3 per cent).

New restrictions on migration suggest longer-term impacts on mobility and an increase in social exclusion, leading to issues like discrimination and even global divides as production shifts locally and economic isolation grows.

Limited mobility increases dangerous and illegal migration, forcing more to turn to smugglers, increasing vulnerability to human trafficking and abuses in the exploitation of peoples desperation. This includes further potential restrictions to migrant workers and migrants seeking refuge in third countries, like Spain or Italy.

Migration in a Moroccan Context

Traditionally an emigration country, Morocco has quickly become the safer migration route into Europe, with land access to the border in the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta. Although the number of illegal border crossings into Spain has halved since 2018, the majority (28 per cent) of migrants entering into mainland Spain last year came from Morocco.

Morocco has begun to reduce the number of illegal border crossings into Europe, but once caught, migrants can end up in a deportation loop. Arriving at the Spanish border, they are arrested and bussed back to Southern Moroccan cities far from smugglers who could offer them passage. As authorities continue to restrict movement, migrants and smugglers are pushed to seek out new routes, such as by sea, which is often more dangerous.

Since 2014 the Moroccan government has run two major regularization campaigns, giving residency permits to 50,000 migrants within the country. However, the UNHCR reports that gaps in accessing documentation and employment persist.

With tighter migration restrictions on popular destination points, such as Spain, France, and Italy, Morocco could see larger populations of migrant workers stuck indefinitely in migration centres such as Rabat.

What will come next?

Organizations like the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) offer some solutions. Beginning in 2020, law school students at the University Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah in partnership with HAF will provide pro-bono legal aid to migrants in the Fez region, in particular victims of trafficking, young people, and women.

Fez is estimated to house tens of thousands of migrants, many of which come from Sub-Saharan regions of Africa and live within the new districts of the city. These districts are often modest or poor, and with limited legal access, migrants have trouble finding work. In a study of migrants in Fes, only 53 per cent of respondents reported that they are or had been engaged in paid employment since their arrival.

Providing legal aid to migrants reduces the potential of trafficking networks and smugglers from taking advantage, while also offering law students the chance to gain valuable experience in the field and connecting migrants and women to CSOs to develop skills and build their cooperatives or businesses, which can reduce youth unemployment. With a stronger legal and economic support system, migrants are more likely to establish roots rather than risk irregular migration to Europe.

Developmental and human rights organizations are increasingly offering support to migrants around the country, yet it is important that organizations take further steps at the local level. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has repeatedly warned that specific quarantine measures and restrictions on free movement must meet international human rights standards. Rather than delaying asylum claims, they can be processed remotely, where restrictions prevent face-to-face interviews. Extending residency permits to those in-need can increase health access to migrants in areas affected by the pandemic.

In May, in partnership with the Moroccan government, the UNHCR and the National Council of the Medical Association teamed up to provide increased health care access and medicines for asylum seekers and refugees in Morocco.

Moroccan migration policies support a humanitarian approach and prohibit manifestations of racism. However, the limited accessibility of resources for migrants and legal obstacles persist.

Further steps can include greater health and legal accessibility for vulnerable migrant groups, including access to psychosocial support, emergency accommodation, pre-school education, childcare, mediation, and occasional emergency aid (such as in the case of a lockdown). October has historically been the most active month for migrants crossing from Morocco to Spain, so it is important to adopt these steps to prevent a surge in dangerous, irregular border crossings. [IDN-InDepthNews 14 July 2020]

Photo: Law students of USMBA, the university named after Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, a 18th century Sultan of Morocco, participate in skills-building workshops in preparation for opening a law clinic. February 2020, High Atlas Foundation.

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The Forgotten Victims of COVID-19 Amid Migration Crisis - IDN InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters

The five truths about the migrant workers crisis | Opinion – Hindustan Times

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The five truths about the migrant workers crisis | Opinion - Hindustan Times

Unkept promises to workers – The Indian Express

Written by Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey | New Delhi | Updated: July 20, 2020 9:37:32 am An interaction with around 200 migrant workers from Unnao, Sitapur, Varanasi, Lucknow, Kushinagar and Saharanpur districts in UP, gives a picture very different from what the government has been claiming.

In the wake of migrant workers returning following the lockdown, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on May 24 that his government will set up of a commission to create employment opportunities in the state. He said the commission will conduct skill mapping of migrant workers and provide them jobs and social security.

An interaction with around 200 migrant workers from Unnao, Sitapur, Varanasi, Lucknow, Kushinagar and Saharanpur districts in UP, gives a picture very different from what the government has been claiming. Not one of the workers surveyed in these districts has been approached by the government for skill mapping or for providing them guidance for any kind of livelihood options in their home state. Only one of them had received monetary support of Rs 1,000 twice, though about half of them were provided with the 35-kg ration kit benefits promised to all the returning migrant workers. However, the cash benefit could be availed only by those who had used state-owned transport, which was near absent.

Most of the migrant workers had been employed by the construction industry in the National Capital Region, Haryana and Punjab. Some of them worked with plaster of paris and did marble masonry. Some were polishing marble in Telangana. Still others were tailors in Ahmedabad, or worked in hotels in Mumbai. A few had work in factories producing crockery, hosiery and clothes. The farthest anybody worked was in a zarda factory in Karnataka. The few women among the returnees worked as domestic workers or were employed in cloth factories in Ludhiana.

Only less than 10 per cent of them got to travel free by government transport. Most of them spent their own money to travel by various kinds of private vehicles, on buses, auto-rickshaws etc, often changing the vehicle at some place, and even walking part or full distance. For example, when the police would not let their vehicles cross the Delhi-UP border, they would walk up to Ghaziabad or even Aligarh, some along the railway tracks to avoid the police, and then hail a vehicle. Often, they travelled in groups so that costs could be shared. The amount a person spent on travel was upwards of Rs 2,000.

About 10 per cent of them were quarantined the quarantine centres were mostly neighbourhood schools for 14 days. Others were told to go home and voluntarily quarantine themselves inside their homes. Relatives of workers quarantined at most centres were asked to arrange food for their quarantined family member.

Three-fourths of these workers are young, below the age of 35 years and close to 70 per cent of them belonged to the Scheduled Castes. Only 13 per cent of the workers were from the general category, indicating that the most underprivileged in the society continues to be from the bottom-most segment of the Hindu caste order.

Most of the workers who have returned, especially those belonging to the SC community, do not own enough land to sustain their families while living in the village. However, they are also aware that in the coming year, and possibly even the next one, there will be no work for them at the places they had left in desperation. Hardly anybody got paid for the period of lockdown, despite the appeal by the prime minister. About 20 per cent of them also have payments worth more than 7.5 lakh in salaries and wages pending for work done earlier. Overall, the workers stare at a bleak future.

Even though the chief minister announced more than once that needy people will get ration even without a ration card, the fact is that the returnee migrant labourers who dont have ration cards or their names have been struck off from ration cards because they were not staying in their village, are neither getting the regular quota of ration nor the free quota made available during the coronavirus crisis period. Only a little more than 50 per cent of the migrant workers who have returned get their quota of ration. The situation with work under MGNREGA is worse. Less than a third of the people who have returned got work from one to 20 days. But only about a third of them had received payments.

Forgetting that workers have their own agency and rights over their lives, the chief minister had said that if states wanted to re-employ migrant workers they would have to take the UP governments permission. Prem, a native of Sitapur who had been working with his family of six adults in Ludhiana for the last 12 years, laughed at this statement. He said: It is not possible to start factories overnight or even in a few months or a year or two in UP. Our entire family works in factories and earns Rs 55,000 a month. Who will give us that sort of skilled work here? When we left we knew only agricultural work but now we know printing and other works. We will go back as there is no choice.

This article first appeared in the print edition on July 20 under the title Unkept promises to workers. Dhuru works with the National Alliance of Peoples Movements and Pandey, a Magsaysay awardee, is with Socialist Party (India). The writers would like to acknowledge the help of Vishal Kumar, Shivi Piplani and Rakesh in collection, compilation and verification of data.

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Unkept promises to workers - The Indian Express

UN agencies call for the protection of Pacific migrant workers – RNZ

Pacific states have been urged to ensure migrants can access basic healthcare and essential income support amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) say the situation of temporary seasonal workers is concerning.

In a statement, the UN agency said migrant workers risked slipping into situations of irregularity if they could not or did not wish to return to their home countries.

It said border closures, restrictions on departure and re-entry, expired working visas and loss of employment for many temporary visa holders across the Pacific had left many of them with limited access to alternative livelihood options, adequate food and shelter.

It said these also had implications on the workers' physical and mental health.

The World Bank has called for more jobs to be made available for women in New Zealand and Australia under their respective Pacific labour mobility schemes. Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Koroi Hawkins

The OHCHR said an estimated 330,000 Pacific-born people resided overseas with 2.7 million more temporary visa holders living in Australia and New Zealand.

Thomas Hunecke, the head of OHCHR in the Pacific, said his office continued to track human rights issues across the region.

Mr Hunecke said human rights-based responses to the health crisis were vital in ensuring all "migrants, regardless of their status, have access to basic social security such as healthcare and essential income support".

He said these should be an integral element of the pandemic response in the Pacific.

"In particular, we are concerned that the lack of inclusive income security measures means that many migrants and their families with little reserves would be hardest hit by unemployment and rising prices.

RSE workers from Samoa working in Bostock orchard, Hastings. Photo: RNZ / Anusha Bradley

Meawhile, the IOM Pacific Coordinator Pr Liljert said migrants had played a vital role in supporting countries during the Covid-19 crisis and that safe migration should be part of the recovery process.

Mr Liljert said this could be a potential solution for Pacific countries that received significant GDP contributions from remittances, but equally for countries of destination by filling critical labour market gaps including in essential services like food production.

"At the heart of addressing Covid-19 and building back better are policies and programmes that guarantee the health and safety of migrants, with inclusive public health responses and socioeconomic recovery packages."

Mr Hunecke said as the long process of protecting and rebuilding economies adversely affected by the pandemic got underway, there was a need for Pacific states to ensure their response effectively addressed the disproportionate impact the crisis had on people and communities who were already marginalized and vulnerable.

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UN agencies call for the protection of Pacific migrant workers - RNZ

The Gulf’s migrant workers are being exploited amid the coronavirus crisis, rights groups say – CNBC

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates The controversy surrounding cheap migrant labor in the oil-rich Gulf states has intensified during the coronavirus pandemic, amid reports of workers going without food and water and being deprived of pay.

"A massive issue not being discussed is that some of the (workers) are going home without their paid wages," Rothna Begum, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch told CNBC on Thursday. "This is thousands of dollars of wages that are not being paid because unscrupulous employers and agents realize this is an opportunity to allow workers to go home (to their home countries) without having to pay them."

Migrant workers are also being fired in their thousands. In the UAE alone, for example, more than 50,000 Pakistani workers have been laid off and repatriated, according to Pakistan's ambassador there. Workers from Pakistan make up 20% of the UAE's population.

Nationals from India, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Nigeria, among others, also make up the roughly 35 million-strong migrant workforce that's been crucial to every sector of the GCC economy.

Rights advocacy group Amnesty International said that the coronavirus pandemic had worsened conditions for many of these workers. The group cites salary delays and layoffs as a major risk plaguing the community right now, in addition to overcrowded living conditions, a lack of support, detentions and deportations, and problems with healthcare and sick pay.

Residents hang their laundry off the railing on their balconies at their apartment building, to disinfect them under sunlight, in the city of Dubai on May 17, 2020, during the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Karim Sahib | AFP | Getty Images

Some workers still in the UAE also say they have not been paid. More than a dozen foreign taxi drivers in Dubai, for instance, who spoke to CNBC over the course of 12 weeks,have told CNBC they were not paid during the emirate's coronavirus lockdown, and had to rely on friends and relatives for food and money.

If they tried to protest, the drivers said, their employers threatened to revoke their visas. "They are paying us zero money," one taxi driver, speaking anonymously out of fear of reprisal, said of his employer in late April. "But what will we do? If we say anything they will cancel our visa, send us back to Pakistan."

The UAE's Ministry of Human Resources did not reply to a request for comment.There is no region-wide body that oversees migrant labor.

Governments need to create mechanisms to ensure that workers are paid before they return to their home countries, Human Rights Watch's Begum said. So far, none of the GCC states have implemented this.

"Right now we're not seeing governments come through with that mechanism, so now we're seeing many of the (workers) going home destitute, potentially going back to debt, or even worse off than when they left the country," she said.

There also remains the problem of workers trapped in their host countries and unable to return home, with some having become undocumented before the pandemic who now fear arrest if they tried to leave, rights advocates said.

"They're still finding themselves destitute, they still need access to food, housing and health in particular, a lot of them are not coming forward because they're scared of authorities catching them as undocumented workers," Begum added.

She noted some good practices in place, however, including recent decisions by the UAE and Bahraini governments, among others, to extend visas to ensure workers are not becoming undocumented during the pandemic.

Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have also said that undocumented workers can still receive healthcare. But the problem remains that many workers are simply too afraid to get care, believing they will be arrested, revealing a "trust deficit" between workers and their host governments, Begum said.

As economies in the Gulf slowly reopen, some workers have hopes that things will get better. One Dubai taxi driver from Egypt, who had not returned home to see his family in more than two years, said that while he misses home, he knows his job prospects aren't good there. When asked how he managed without pay during Dubai's several weeks of strict lockdown, he replied: "It's only thanks to God."

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The Gulf's migrant workers are being exploited amid the coronavirus crisis, rights groups say - CNBC