The International E-Conference on Migration, Diasporas and Sustainable Development: Perspectives, Policies, Opportunities and Challenges (2-5 November 2020) was jointly Organised by Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism (GRFDT), New Delhi, India, Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), Manila, Philippines, Center for Research on North America (CISAN), UNAM, Mexico. The session on COVID-19 and Migration on Day 2 of the conference was chaired by Dr. Raj Bardouille and the room was coordinated by Dr. Divya Balan. Like every other parallel session in the conference, this session too saw an amazing display of knowledge from presenters all around the world. The paper presentations were on-point with the ongoing pandemic that the world is witnessing, as we speak and several important topics were discussed in relation to the various issues that have been accelerated or in some cases, given birth by this corona virus.
Professor Annapurna Devi Pandey from the University of California Santa Cruz presented her views on ‘Domestic Violence and COVID-19: A study of H4 dependents in the Indian diaspora in the USA. Her argument was that the H4 dependents are at a double disadvantage in the United States since they do not have a legal standing in the society. They have also suffered from physical, sexual, emotional and financial abuse at the hands of their partners. Professor Pandey says that this loss of freedom in the land of free makes it easier for men to take advantage of their wives and get away with it. She calls the H4 visa as the ‘dependent’ visa or the ‘prisoner’ visa. She went on discuss the legal limitations of these visa holders and shed light on H4 EAD (Employment Authorization Document) and argued how this too is not enough. The Coronavirus has further complicated the issues of domestic violence. Professor Pandey threw light on how many shelters have reported a decline in calls for help because in most cases, people are stuck at home with their abusers. Due to the pandemic, many H-4 EAD job holders have also lost their jobs due to delays in visa renewals. With this, she discussed the various constraints that are faced by women H4 Visa holders. She concluded by saying that the U.S immigration policy forces the H-4 women to become passive victim and hence they are left with very little to no choice. Various women’s organizations are making a concerted effort to help such survivors to get out of their abusive marriage. The Indian diaspora should come together to help these victims gain safety and freedom so that they too can lead a respectable life.
Professor Monica Verea made the second presentation in this session on the ‘Legacy of Trump’s Anti-immigrant Agenda: Has COVID-19 intensified it?’. She spoke about how the ongoing pandemic has given President Trump the perfect excuse to bring in various immigration policies which is part of his anti-immigrant agenda. During this year he has pressed increase apprehensions to separate families, to abandon migrants in Mexican border towns and to end their right to asylum in order to protect the border. She stressed how Trump’s administration has mainly focused on the objective which relates to enhancing border security. To serve this purpose, he constantly insisted on building a border wall which has been an icon of Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and Mexican-phobic tendencies. He has perpetually threatened and harassed the Mexican government to pay for the wall by using different mechanisms. Professor Verea further elaborated on several of Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies and how he diverted defence fund to building the wall. She spoke about how if Trump is re-elected for another term, he will further his anti-immigrant policies and on the other hand, if Biden gets elected, he might do something to reverse these (although it will obviously take time), but we surely don’t know whether this is one of the top agendas for Joe Biden or not.
Next in line, we had a presentation by Anagha E who shared her views on the COVID-19 pandemic and human healthcare forces while focusing on the migrant nurses from the Indian state of Kerala. She divided her presentation into two parts. At first, she gave a historical background of the nurses’ migration from Kerala to various parts of India and abroad. Secondly, she spoke about the various challenges that are being faced by the nurses community in the contemporary times, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Anagha shed light on the important role being played by immigrant nurses in the current pandemic across the world. She went on to highlight numerous reasons that were responsible for the migration of women who for the longest time were dependent upon their husbands when it to migrating to some place.90% of the female migrant nurses in India are Keralites, mainly from the Syrian Catholic families of central Travancore. Central Travancore consists of three districts which is also known as the Nursing hub of Kerala. Anagha also discussed reasons due to which many nurses came back from their counties of origin and well as their countries of residence.
Dr Raj Bardouillesaid that the prejudice against women going out is not totally black and white if the women are trained for a job and are able to provide for their families (if they have a source of income).
Monika Bisht Ranjan presented her views on Internet-based marriages among Indian Diaspora: A Study of Transnational match-making through matrimonial websites. She spoke about how the virtual media has become an essential platform for connecting people all over the world. Technology now appears to be an agent of change as well as an indicator of cultural homonisation. She explained how traditionally Indian families relied on kinship and networks of caste network, marriage bureau and personal networks to arrange for their children’s wedding. Recently the global media age has emerged as a new world of possibilities. The introduction of various online matrimonial websites is not only an economic success for media producers but also marks a new era of marriage matchmaking. The internet based marriages are aiding the sustenance of caste, culture and community based hierarchies in new form. Overall her paper provided an analysis of the increasing popularity of internet based matchmaking services among Indians and NRI diasporas. She explored as to how virtual meetings turn into formations of family and kinship.
Michal Tengeri spoke about the vulnerable Rohingya refugees during the COVID-19 pandemic. He started by talking about how this pandemic has affected people from all walks of lives in almost all countries. Later, he shed light on the case of Bangladesh where the first case of COVID-19 was reported on March 8th 2020 and how a country with a poverty rate of 21.8% is dealing with it with only 0.58 doctors per 1000 people as opposed to the WHO recommendations which proposes at least 1 doctor per thousand people. Mr Tengeri then gave statistics about Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh where more than 1 million Rohingyas reside. Their camps are densely populated and only 310 Rohingyas have been tested till the time of Mr Tengeri’s research. They also do not trust the doctors and on top of everything, they have huge economic problems to deal with in the middle of a pandemic. He went on to discuss how the economy of Bangladesh is suffering due to the pandemic and how it is also dealing with returning migrant workers. There could be possible unrest in the country which is in a bad economic condition, there’s dissatisfaction with the government, high levels of corruption and refugees are labelled as ‘the others’.
Ani Yaremyan spoke about understanding diasporas on the online platform and the challenges and opportunities during COVID-19. She focused on the case of the Armenian diaspora in the current situation. She shed light on how the internet has become even more important, than it was ever before since almost all activities have been moved online. The impact of high technology and social networking became more important and that raised the importance of digital diaspora among other forms of diasporas. The engagement and the loyalty towards the homeland shifted towards a new level or rather it is reshaped within the online space. Telecommunication technologies do more than enable communities to connect to their homeland while reinforcing their sense of collective identity. Hence, a new diasporic public sphere emerges on the digital space. She gave examples to prove that social networking tool like Facebook have become another alternative virtual tool for cultural engagement as a way of reinforcing the sense of belonging to a single community, nation as well as a shared history.
At last, Milan Khanal spoke about whether it’s possible to revive the National economy after post COVID situation and the perspectives on “Potential impact of COVID-19on national economy and livelihood opportunity for migrant worker back home”. He spoke about how the pandemic is creating an imbalance in the society, economy and politics everywhere. There is a huge shift in the consumption pattern of poor and low income families and this will have adverse impacts on the market economy. He shed light on how the financial stoppage of businesses all over the world will have a direct effect on the working states of Nepali transient laborers. This will eventually give rise to mental stress due to lack of livelihood opportunities. Mr Khanal spoke about reviving the National economy in 2022 and talked about specific pointers related to the agricultural sector, planning financial and social remittances and utilizing the skills and experience of the returnees. He presented an excellent framework on how should the country of Nepal cope with the after effects of this pandemic. This would lead to smooth operationalizing of the suggestions brought by the speaker.
Parul Srivastava, Doctoral Candidate, Department of History, University of Hyderabad.