February 23, 2021
Covid-19 travel restrictions brought human mobility to a grinding halt and left millions of people stranded globally. While the focus must remain on the acute health crisis and equitable vaccine distribution, the unprecedented level of immobility offers an opportunity to rethink and reshape global migration systems increasingly overfocused on securitized responses.
Doing so could be the difference between economic rebound and stagnation. Not doing so could have grave strategic security consequences.
The pandemic is increasing migration-related pressures across the globe. For many former migrants who returned home during the pandemic or who are stranded in countries without jobs, the desperation to move grows with every passing week. Economic and social pressures are multiplying as job opportunities dwindle and savings are depleted. Many migrants still working are doing so as essential workers on the front lines of the pandemic, putting themselves, their families,