Understanding the Migrants' Perspective of COVID
- 82newsbulletin
- Sep 10, 2020
- 2 min read
Written by Khan Uzma Nisa
#StayAtHome” tagline has been trending during the past few months of COVID which aimed to encourage people to limit their social movements in order to “flatten the curve”. While many fretted over the travel restrictions and regulated social interactions, there are migrants worldwide who do not have a safe home to return to as they were overlooked in the national and international response to COVID.
Reality is that the border restrictions and health regulations have left many migrants displaced across borders while internally, many migration processes and assistance had been reduced or suspended temporarily. Even the inadequate and ineffective preventive measures in camps which are characterized as overcrowded with limited resources, have exacerbated the vulnerabilities of migrants and jeopardized their health.
Moreover, some countries have dealt with migrants in inhumane ways like leaving them stranded on deserts, deporting them, abandoning them at sea. Their resettlement process is also held back by the rife circulation of fake news that stigmatizes migrants as carriers of the virus.
COVID has highlighted many discriminatory attitudes as seen by the politicians’ blame game, citizens exclusion of minority groups or the rampant racially charged attacks. Undeniably, migrants are one of the at-risk groups that we should be paying attention to. While it is difficult to grasp a sense of control and understanding over such an unprecedented pandemic, it does not justify the callous attitude over the plight of migrants.
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