Impact of COVID-19 on migration - Don't be racist

Holidays are being cancelled. Borders are being closed. Tougher restrictions are being put in place. The luxury of being able to travel is now more restrictive as we need to quarantine for some countries when we arrive back to the UK. This has resulted in many people cancelling holidays and complaining. But imagine if travel was not a luxury but a necessity? In order to escape a war torn country or flee persecution due to religion or ethnic minority. This is the reality for many migrants and the pandemic has not helped the situation. 

Now there are many more migrants as global economy comes to a standstill and as jobs are being lost Migrants are facing the risk of contagion by travelling in dangerous conditions. Yet, when they arrive to the country migration and asylum offices as well as consular services have been closed to the public in some countries from one to three months. Additionally, migrants that have contracted the virus don't have access to the health care services in the country or they face the risk of paying expensive health insurance bills. The good thing is that some countries such as France or Belgium have already offered free universal access to health care prior to the crisis, however, others like Portugal have temporarily regularised migrants in an irregular situation to ensure full access. 

Migrants are facing greater dilemmas to travel into a country with the increased travel measures due to the virus. As of 1 May 2020, almost all countries have put in place restrictions on the admission of foreigners, although almost all still accept nationals returning from abroad. At least two countries, Japan and Korea, have decided to suspend the validity of previously issued visas. The closure of consular services all around the world has led to a suspension of the issuance of new visas and permits abroad. The US decided in late April to suspend, until the end of June, the processing of pending immigration applications. Additionally, even in countries still processing visa applications, immigration offices are closed or operating under restricted access to the public, leading to delays. 

The pandemic is affecting migration immensely. There remains a large number of people seeking asylum who are in need of international protection and the number of illegal crossing on the borders has decreased. In Europe, according to Frontex, there were 4650 illegal entries in March compared to 6200 in February. Migrants are finding themselves in even worse conditions, faced with the choice of risking contracting the virus to reach a country where they only have a slight chance of gaining refuge or continue living in a country that is torn by war. Most countries have also suspended resettlement. Refugee resettlement travel to the US has also generally been suspended, with very limited exceptions for individuals in urgent circumstances. 

Before we complain about not being able to go on holiday, we should thank ourselves that we are living in a country that is not torn by war and destruction. Migration is going to be greatly affected by the pandemic. There is going to be backlogs in the processing of visa applications for most categories of migration and also some for asylum applications. Pending work authorisations may become ineligible due to changes in the labour market situation in the pandemic. Students also may have been unable to complete their studies within the period foreseen by their visa. 

Everyone is finding it hard to get a job at the moment but for migrants it can be increasingly tough as the alternative can be a return to a country struck by war and destruction. Additionally, many migrants may not possess the necessary skills or language which can make finding a job almost impossible. The fact is that migrants are more likely to hold temporary contracts and concentrated in sectors more sensitive to fluctuations in the business cycle such as construction or disproportionately exposed to lockdowns such as the hospitality industry. Also migrants may be disproportionately impacted by COVID health concerns themselves due to higher proportions working in sectors with high COVID exposure of their inability to maintain physical distancing. 

The COVID-19 crisis is likely to have long-lasting impacts on migration management and integration policies. It will impact migration overall as with severe economic recession and increasing challenges for maintaining social cohesion, not only the need for international recruitments will be reduced but support for proactive migration policies may be affected. This can be seen in India, where an estimated 40 million internal migrant workers, largely in the informal economy, were severely impacted by the pandemic. 

Migration policy is far from the top of any country's agenda just not. With the coronavirus still having full effect, a return to normality will be impossible for some time. I worry that this virus will not only have economic impacts but moral impacts on migration. I worry that it will exasperate hate towards migrants for spreading the infection and be used as a ploy for government to introduce stricter migration policies. This can already be seen on the English Channel where the UK government has spent millions of pounds of taxpayers' money fortifying the port at Calais, increasing patrol and are now calling the military to deal with a humanitarian situation. 

As a result of the pandemic, people are becoming increasingly scared of foreigners. Many associate foreigners with disease and this is emphasised when we see news stories of boats full of covid-infected migrants crossing the Mediterranean. Suspicion of foreigners is the reason why people who look Chinese have been harassed in many countries and it is why Trump boasts about banning Chinese travellers and why one of the South African government's first actions to curb covid-19 was to build a fence on the border with Zimbabwe. 

I hope that goodness can be spread throughout our country. I understand that this can be hard as the pandemic has caused mass unemployment, however, this is not the fault of migrants. The idea that more migrants means fewer jobs for locals in the long run is a fallacy. Migrants bring a greater diversity of skills to the workforce, allowing the labour market to operate more efficiently. Donald Trump is highlighting racist and hatred in the US and other countries by locking out skilled workers, internal company transfers and even foreign students. This is a recipe for a poorer, more insular America. 

America is not the only country. Malaysia has pushed boatloads of Rohingya refugees back into international waters. The army chief in the Maldives has called migrant workers a security threat. South Africa temporarily closed migrant-owned shops in townships, forcing customers to walk miles to distant grocery shops during the pandemic. The pandemic can have an effect on our perceptions of migration, fuelling an environment of hatred and giving governments the environment to pass through harsh policies that the majority would normally be strongly opposed towards. 

It is true that some countries may appear from lockdown as a more open and welcoming country than before it. For example, Japan is allowing foreign trainees, as it calls migrant workers, to switch jobs. Britain also just offered residency for up to 3 million Hong Kong residents without any backlash. We ultimately have to accept lockdown for what it is and not manifest it onto the fault of migrants. Migration is an opportunity to uplift the poor, revive rich countries and spread new ideas. Please do not let the pandemic change your stance about migration.