CoronaCrime #102 - Corona and Migration

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a terrible toll on lives, illness, and economic devastation and it is having diverse effects on violence and crime. Daily Prevention News publishes weekly a Corona Crime Issue dedicated to collecting related news and information.

1. In and out of Europe: Migration between Poland, Ukraine and Belarus in the light of COVID-19
   While diverse administrative, economic and political events throughout history have had an influence on the movement of people around the world, none of them had a bigger impact on the number of people crossing the European Union’s (EU) eastern border than the current COVID-19 pandemic. But how has this actually fared on tourism, the labour market and student flows? Source: ESPON
2. UNODC Study: The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on trafficking in person
   The COVID-19 pandemic has affected countries and people globally; it has also exacerbated existing disadvantages, poverty and vulnerabilities. The initial measures to contain the health crisis have not always considered those most vulnerable and affected by violence and exploitation. This report seeks to bring to the forefront the challenges for anti-trafficking during the pandemic and share promising practices and lessons learned in order to prepare for a more inclusive crisis-response in the future, leaving no one behind. Source: UNODC
3. Migration data relevant for the COVID-19 pandemic
   Migrants – particularly in lower paid jobs and in irregular situations – may be both more affected by and vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19, but migrants also play an important role in the response to COVID-19 by working in critical sectors. As of 8 March 2022, emigrants from the 20 countries with the highest number of COVID-19 cases accounted for 32 per cent of the total international migrant stock and they had sent an estimated 38 per cent of all remittances globally to their countries of origin in 2021. Source: Migration Data Portal
4. The COVID-19 Pandemic, Migration and the Environment
   The COVID-19 pandemic is having profound, widespread impacts on migrants, refugees and displaced persons, as well as on migration patterns at local and global level. Its implications for the different facets of the migration and environment nexus are also significant, and very diverse. People evacuating and displaced as a consequence of disasters are facing specific challenges respecting physical distancing and practicing other infection prevention measures. Migrants forced to return towards their home countries and locations might put additional pressures on already fragile ecosystems and livelihoods. Families and communities that were relying on migration as an adaptation or coping strategy have little options to send out their members or have stopped receiving remittances. Source: IOM
5. COVID-19 and migration: The migration atlas
   The pandemic has also underlined the importance of migration and mobility for countries in Europe and around the world. This includes the vital contribution migrants make to sectors such as agriculture, healthcare and science and their role as key workers doing many of the day-to-day essential tasks that keep societies functioning. In this section of the Atlas of Migration we examine the shifting trends and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for international migration and mobility. In doing so, we build on the special section of the 2020 edition of the Atlas, but with the added benefit of now having access to statistics which specifically refer to the period of the pandemic. In some cases, the latest available data refers only to 2020, whereas in others we already have access to data from 2021. Source: EU Knowledge Centre on Migration and Demography
6. Promoting COVID-19 vaccination uptake among migrant communities on social media – Evidence from Germany
   Studies from several countries in the US and Europe, including Germany, suggest that vaccination rates are lower among migrant communities compared to the general population. Studies argue that vaccination gaps may be linked to language barriers and a lack of trust in institutions. In the study Promoting COVID-19 vaccination uptake among migrant communities on social media – Evidence from Germany, IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre and the University of Potsdam tested the effect of language and trust barriers in Germany via social media campaigns. While the study focused on Germany, the methodology is scalable to other countries to improve outreach and support equitable access to health services, including for refugees, asylum seekers, migrants in irregular situations, and hard-to-reach populations. Source: IOM

Please find more information and news about the interlinkages between the Coronavirus, Crime and Violence in German published every Tuesday on our German News Service Tägliche Präventions News.