COVID-19’s Socio-economic Impact on Migrants and Displaced Populations

Date

09/11/2021

Location

Online Webinar

Time

From 4:00 pm To 5:30 pm

Register here!

Short summary of the presentation on Impact of COVID-19 on Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Iraq

Among the main socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Middle Eastern countries, the impact on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is one of the most relevant especially in post-conflict and fragile countries and contexts. To analyse this, the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Iraq, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the International Trade Centre (ITC) jointly conducted a panel study tracking the pandemic’s impact on SMEs in Iraq. The survey was administered to over 800 SMEs across the country covering 16 economic sectors. Four rounds of data were collected at four points in time between June 2020 and June 2021 (June/July 2020, September 2020, November/December 2020, and June 2021) from businesses registered in IOM’s database, located in both urban and rural areas.

Findings from four rounds of data collection show that COVID-19 negatively affected production, revenue, and employment—notably, the gender gap on the labour force—at the beginning of the pandemic (February to June 2020) and COVID-19-related movement restrictions (“lockdowns”).

This paper delves into the sectoral and geographic variances regarding revenue, production, and employment (including across gender) loss; job loss among male vs. female workers; enterprises dimensions, including size and registration status; gender of the top manager; debt incurred because of COVID-19; and overall impact on the business, all of which have yet to be explored in any of this study’s publications.

The main causes of the level of impact of COVID-19 will be measured and analysed through correlation models and, where possible, probabilistic models. At the end of the paper, general conclusions are drawn together with related policy recommendations for the Iraqi and Middle Eastern countries.

Short summary of the presentation on Compounding Misfortunes: Changes in Poverty since the Onset of COVID-19 on Syrian Refugees and Host Communities in Jordan, Iraq-Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Lebanon, December 2020 (World Bank; UNHCR); March 2021 (World Bank; WFP; UNHCR):  

The COVID-19 crisis has impacted all. In Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq-Kurdistan Region of Iraq (Iraq-KRI), and Turkey, the socio-economic impact of the pandemic and associated lockdowns has been particularly dramatic. Those living on the social and economic margins of society, with few assets, more debt, limited access to legal or social services, and a dependence on informal sources of income, have been particularly affected. COVID-19 has exacerbated existing vulnerabilities among refugees and their host communities, leaving them with few coping mechanisms and resulting in difficult choices. Families have been unable to pay for basic household needs, risking eviction for non-payment of rent. Both refugee and host community children have faced further challenges in education – limited by distance and home-schooling opportunities and the digital divide. Specific risks for women and girls have been exacerbated, including increased reports of domestic violence linked to the lockdowns. Social tensions are rising as resources and jobs become even more scarce.

In December 2020, the World Bank and UNHCR issued a joint study, “Compounding Misfortunes: Changes in Poverty since the Onset of COVID-19 on Syrian Refugees and Host Communities in Jordan, Iraq-Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Lebanon, funded by the World Bank-
UNHCR Joint Data Centre on Forced Displacement. The report analyzes the changes in poverty rates among refugees and host communities as a result of the COVID-19 crisis and the ensuing lockdown policies that have impacted people’s livelihoods, both in terms of their labor and non-labor income.

The report covers Lebanon, three governorates in Jordan, and Iraq-Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Based on the macroeconomic evidence at the
time, the report estimated that a large increase in poverty at the onset of the crisis, with the increase rapidly declining as the pandemic recedes.

In March 2021, coinciding with the 5th Brussels Conference on Supporting Syria and the Region, an Update to the Compounding Misfortunes report was issued jointly by the World Bank, UNHCR and WFP, now including additional data from WFP.

Short summary of the presentation on Migrant Remittances During Armed Conflict and Pandemic – A Libya Case Study

Despite armed conflict, political instability and COVID-19 pandemic, apart from being a country of transit for migrants and asylum seekers heading to Europe, Libya remains a significant country of destination for migrant workers seeking employment and opportunities to diversify their household incomes via remittances. The study presents key findings on remittances sent from Libya via analysis of self-reported data collected from migrants in Libya since 2019. Trend analysis of the remittances data collected via IOM Libya’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) shows that migrants’ earning in Libya were affected by the armed conflict and COVID-19 pandemic throughout 2019 – 2020 period. However, despite a ceasefire agreement in place since August 2020, and migrants’ inclusion in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Libya, the pace of recovery in migrants’ remittances has remained slow. The presentation will cover key trends around migrants’ remittances from Libya, touching upon their connection with the migrants’ profiles, migration motivations and aspirations, and question the potential role of remittances data in our understanding of migrants’ overall wellbeing.

Date

10/11/2021

Location

Online Webinar

Time

From 4:00 pm To 5:30 pm

Register here!

Short summary of the presentation on Social Protection – An operational tool for the Humanitarian, Development and Peace Nexus: Displacement contexts and beyond

This paper explores linkages between cash-based interventions (CBIs) and social protection in humanitarian and non-humanitarian settings, focusing on linkages between humanitarian aid and sustainable social protection for migrants, including and communities affected by forced displacement such as internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, climate change events or economic factors. Many of these migrants are effectively undocumented and reliant on humanitarian aid, informal economic activity, and informal forms of social protection to generate income and for economic survival. The paper focuses on the MENA region but draws from experiences elsewhere in the world and simultaneously reflects on the normative framework from the perspective of international norms and standards.

Short summary of the presentation on Social Protection and COVID-19: Inclusive Responses for International Migrants and Forcibly Displaced Persons in the MENA region  

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region hosts one of the largest communities of forcibly displaced populations (FDP) and migrant workers in the world. These groups were particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 crisis and its socio-economic effects such as increased unemployment and poverty. Despite the great potential of social protection policies to mitigate these effects, migrants and FDP have limited access to national social protection systems and the new social policy responses designed to support families during the crisis. Against this background, this policy brief aims to identify good practices of social protection responses to the pandemic in the MENA region that included migrant workers and their families, as well as FDP. It documents governmental and humanitarian practices of inclusive social protection responses, including social assistance, social insurance, and labour market policies. The study found that only 25 out of 162 government measures mapped in the region expanded social protection systems explicitly guaranteeing some access to non-nationals to social protection responses. In absolute terms, labour market policies were the least common social protection response that included non-nationals (7 programmes), followed by social insurance (8) and social assistance (10). Given the lack of inclusive governmental responses, humanitarian interventions were crucial to providing emergency support for non-nationals. Also, the study concluded that the level of protection offered to non-nationals has depended greatly on the extent to which they were already accessing social protection systems before the crisis. For example, in Jordan, some specific groups such as Gazan refugees and non-national children of Jordanian mothers already were covered by some social protection schemes, particularly contributory schemes. The adaptations of these programmes included these non-nationals who were already covered, resulting in a significant number of inclusive responses (11) in the country. Despite the limitations of the responses’ inclusiveness for migrant workers and FDPs, several examples of good practices from humanitarian and governmental actors in the region were identified, including some that can support to address structural exclusionary barriers from social protection systems, such as the case of Djibouti, where UNHCR in partnership with the Government started the biometric registration of refugee families to include their data in the national social registry. The brief concludes with a set of recommendations on how to make social assistance, social insurance and labour market schemes, as well as healthcare and shock-responsive strategies more inclusive.

Date

11/11/2021

Location

Online Webinar

Time

From 4:00 pm To 6:00 pm

Register here!

Short summary of the presentation on How COVID-19 Restrictions And The Economic Consequences Are Likely To Impact Migrant Smuggling And Cross-Border Trafficking In Persons To Europe And North America

Smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons will also be affected in certain ways by the crisis. Many factors shape the dynamics of these two criminal phenomena, from the international political and security landscape to macro socio-economic dynamics and national law enforcement capacity – all of which have been affected by the global pandemic.

The paper draws on the dynamics observed during other global economic downturns, such as the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, to assess how the COVID-19-induced recession may affect smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons in the medium to long term. The research also reviews available information on current patterns during the COVID-19 lockdown measures and mobility restrictions, and on drivers of migration, as a way to assess possible fluctuations of trends in smuggling of migrants and cross-border trafficking in persons in the near future.

Across the Mediterranean routes, migrants and refugees are caught between the need to flee conflicts, human rights abuses and poverty, dangerous open waters, the reduced Search and Rescue operations at sea and, now, the risks of COVID-19 transmission en route. The living conditions of these migrants and refugees should be of primary concern for the international community.

In other parts of the world, the medium-long term economic consequences resulting from the lockdown measures introduced to reduce the spread of COVID-19 may have an impact on trafficking and smuggling flows. In the past, countries particularly affected by prolonged unemployment have become relevant origin countries for both migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons flows to more affluent countries.

Short summary of the presentation on Mobility trends in the MENA region since the onset of the pandemic – Data from IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) Points of Entry Analysis

The current outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted global and regional mobility in the form of various travel disruptions and mobility restrictions adopted since the declaration of global Pandemic by WHO on March 11th, 2020. To track and better understand how COVID-19 affects global mobility, in this paper developed analyses under the umbrella of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM). IOM has developed a global mobility database to monitor the status of mobility and visa restrictions at Points of Entry (PoE), together with preparedness and response measures in place to prevent, protect against, control, and provide a public health response in line with International Health Regulations (IHR). In this paper we recognize the impact and the importance of the mobility dimensions among the main effects of the containment measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The main aim of this exercise was the understand and estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related measures to reduce the spread of the virus thanks to movement restrictions measure on the effective mobility of migrants and mobile populations in the Region and from the Middle Eastern and Northern African countries. The developed methodology collects information on the operational status of points of entry monitored including ports of entry as airports, land border crossing points (road or rail), blue border crossing (sea, river, or lake), and other locations as internal transit points and other areas of interest, which are not the object of this analysis despite the clear interest for at least some specific groups of migrants and displaced populations. This paper describes the findings from data collected between 23 April and 31 December 2020 (37 weeks), on 225 official ports of entry across the region,1 including 106 land border crossings points, 69 airports and 50 blue border crossing points. This work is based on the information collected by IOM Country Offices in the Middle East and North Africa region. Such information is meant to inform the scientific community as well as IOM member states, IOM, and its UN partner agencies in responding adequately, and in a targeted manner, to the current and evolving crisis period and to developed further analysis to explore the impact of the movement restriction measures on the mobility of migrants and mobile populations in the considered period.

Using data from IOM’s Point of Entry (PoE) Monitoring analysis, the paper develops two indicators to determine which countries have been most impacted by restrictions in freedom of movement implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19. The first indicator looks at freedom of movement at national level, which assesses the time spent by each country in lockdown/under movement restriction. Countries who spent less time under lockdown score the higher on freedom of movement indicator. Results show no significant difference between humanitarian and non-humanitarian contexts. This suggests that conflict – or post-conflict – is a not a determinant for the implementation of the movement restrictions as part of COVID-19 prevention measures. Egypt, Sudan, and Tunisia are the countries with highest degree of freedom of movement internally at least measuring the time spent under complete or partial lockdown.

The structure of the Paper is as follows: Section 1 presents the main data on the COVID-19 cases and other medical dimensions of the Pandemic in the region in the analyzed period; Section Two shows the main findings relative to the country level restrictions; following Sections Three, Four and Five report the main trends for the three type of Ports of Entry; Section Six presents migration flows and their trend, as recorded at selected border points in the region through the DTM Flow Monitoring system in the analyzed period, while Section shows a box on Affected Population – Stranded Migrants and on the Socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on migrants and mobile population; Section Eight presents briefly the Methodology used to collect the data and the DTM methodology and at the end of the paper the indicator of freedom of mobility are presented.