The Impact COVID-19 has had on Migrants

by Maya Davis

Migrants are one of the most overlooked and marginalised communities, while they have been neglected and often discriminated against. This pandemic has shown them no remorse and has only highlighted the lack of care towards the community.

image: Julie Ricard (@jricard)

During these unprecedented times, millions worldwide are staying at home, being faced with day-to-day difficulties. Having no control of oneself, while depending on things that are out of our power to drastically get better, can take a toll on a person. Though, for the thousands of heavily marginalised migrants, the impact could be even more consequential.

Migrants, being asylum-seekers, refugees, and undocumented people, have widely been in the UK since 2015, with a record-breaking 1.3 million who sought asylum all across Europe. Since 2015, they have faced many things, one being labelled as "illegal immigrants." Similarly, today they are faced with the same unfortunate mistreatment and neglect, but on a larger scale now due to COVID-19.

Migrants move from various places of the world to the UK and have now been put at a life-changing disadvantage. Their rights and movement have been put on halt, as their lives are drastically changing due to this pandemic. There are roughly 270,000 migrants in the UK as of last year, this number is the highest annual average in the past twenty years, according to the Migration Watch Statistics.

Those who are specifically in lower-paid jobs are vulnerable and are likely to be more affected by COVID-19. The 272 million international migrants are openly more susceptible than others because of social, personal, and situational circumstances. The International Organization for Migration has recorded that there are 41.3 million refugees internally displaced, and 25.9 million are in developing countries, in which those are the places that are being hit the hardest due to the lack of infrastructure and economic resources.

The No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) policy, a policy that is an immigration restriction- has been applied to thousands who live in the UK. It stops them from obtaining any welfare benefits and other supports, such as credit. This policy has only heightened the vulnerability of migrants, worsening their circumstances financially. It is severely impacting migrant children, as they cannot receive any financial support from their families. Lack of financial support for children means they are more likely to face poverty; this could affect their right to education- as the lack of finances can keep them from obtaining the tools they need to further an education while at home.

Many of these migrants are stuck in countries that they intended to flee due to potential danger before the pandemic hit, but border restrictions have now only put them at higher risk. The restrictions and the pandemic itself has stifled the duty of humanitarian organisations. Some countries have completely closed their borders, which only puts migrants' health at risk, as many of them are stuck in countries with poor infrastructure, including means of healthcare.

Some families are being separated from their loved ones, hindering them emotionally, and making them all the less fortunate during these already tough times. Labour Migration has also been temporally put on pause; while some countries' assistance and processing for most asylum seekers have been slowed down due to the pandemic's impact.

A lot of dedicated organisations are doing the best they can to still show up for migrants. The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants wrote an open letter to U.K.'s Home Secretary, Priti Patel, on behalf of migrants, to demand action to ensure their safety during COVID-19.

The organisation called for Priti Patel to ensure access to healthcare and demanded the immediate suspension of all NHS charging and data sharing with immigration enforcement. In that same request, they also asked for a campaign to be made to let other migrants know that there are healthcare services available for them to use safely.

There is still a sense of uncertainty with how migrants will be protected. With so many policies put in place, and restrictions existing because of COVID-19, the result of migrants' health and safety is up in the air.