An International E-Conference was jointly organised by Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism (GRFDT), New Delhi, India, Center for Research on North America (CISAN), UNAM, Mexico and Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), Manila, Philippines,
on the topic, ‘Migration, Diasporas and Sustainable Development: Perspectives, Policies Opportunities and Challenges’ between 2nd– 5th November 2020.
On day 2 of the conference, we witnessed a spectacular session encompassing the various challenges related to COVID-19 and Labour Migration. With topics ranging from the challenges of Black diasporas in the UK to nation building during times of the pandemic, we observed five gripping parallel sessions that left us wanting to learn more.
The first speaker Dr Naibedya Prasun Pal presented a paper titled ‘Societal and Livelihood Impact of Migrant Sex Worker during COVID-19: A Study of Sonagachi area, Kolkata’.
Plight of Migrant Sex workers amidst COVID-19
Dr Pal shed light on this very interesting topic and underlined how COVID-19 has brought a standstill to the lives and livelihoods of migrant sex workers in not only Sonagachi but the entire world. Being the largest red light area of Asia, Sonagachi is home to 12000 women along with hundreds of children and trans-genders from the poorest areas of South Asia. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 scare, only 10% are working on average and not more than 500 customers visit the area, driving the sex workers to face acute food shortages. Despite wearing masks and maintaining sanitization, the women are unable to get clients. Moreover, with sex workers usually socially marginalised in slums where social distancing is more challenging, it becomes a hotbed for COVID-19. Amidst this, what is upsetting is the lack of government intervention or even the slightest concern for these sex workers. Almost no welfare schemes have been taken to alleviate their situations thereby leading to an increase in mental stress, depression and anxiety amongst the sex workers. She says, “Inability to access proper healthcare and failure to get adequate medicines further exacerbates the sex worker’s trauma”.Dr Pal then further explained the instrumental role of the National Commission for Women and non-profit organizations in providing sex workers with basic amenities and encouraging community feeding with the assistance of civil society organisations amidst the lack of government intervention. Lastly, she concluded with the daunting reality of how the future of these sex workers are dim and how we must help to improve it. Hence with several effective suggestions for both the government and the sex workers, Dr Pal came to an end on this unprecedented topic leaving us to ponder further about the plight of the migrant sex workers in these troubled times.
The second paper was brought forth by Mr Abdul Razak and Ms Muniba Zaman titled ‘The Coupling Effect of COVID-19 lockdown and Digital Divide on Migrating Indian Students.
Mental Health amidst COVID-19
Both the speakers brought forward pertinent points related to mental stress in these difficult times and the importance of mental health as a factor inanalysing the wider COVID-19situation. The major area of their study was thus aimed at finding the nature of stress on migrating Indian students due to academic institutions closure during lockdowns and how the existing digital divide in India enhances the worries of the already stressed students post online shift in education during lockdowns. From underlining how mental stress is not taken into account in younger students to problems in accessibility of internet across India, both Mr Razak and Ms Zaman explained the major factors causing anxiety in migrating students. They said, “This is the perfect opportunity to revise our education system and be better prepared for possible threats like these in the future”. Thus, they concluded their presentation by not only calling for steps to address the various fears of students but also the pressing need for student friendly initiatives and policies by the government to decrease the digital divide in India, increase emotional resilience among the masses and ensure equal and adequate access to various platforms of learning.
The third speaker, Ms Preety Sahu presented her paper titled ‘Nation-Building in the time of Pandemic: Impact of COVID-19 on the Cross-Border Labour Migration in Central Asia’.
Importance of Migrant workers in Economic Development
Ms Sahu underlined how migrants are an integral part of the economy and consistently contribute to economic development and social and cultural advancement of any State. Being the ethnic hotspot of Asia along with having a historic legacy of migration, all Central Asian states have exchanged migrants since ancient times. In fact, labour migration is an increasingly important socio-economic and political phenomenon in the region. Thus, Ms Sahusays “Migrant workers are a way to escape economic hardships posed by a shortage of skilled and unskilled workers.” Unfortunately, COVID-19 has exacerbated the troubles of migrant workers. With stalled borders and restrictions on human mobility and travel, not only has the contributionsto GDP’s of migrant’s home countries fallen but it has also lead to a severe loss of their own livelihoods. According to the report ofthe International Federation of Human Rights, there has been an increase in unequal salaries and unhygienic conditions for migrant workers. Ms Sahu also shed light on the gender aspectof post COVID-19 troubles and how the situation of female migrants is more severe because of the nature of their jobs. She thus called to safeguard human rights and take a victim-centred approach to ensure equality before law. She explained how private and public enterprises should work together to help migrants in avoiding burning through their savings. Thus, in this well-argued paper, Ms Sahu, concluded by saying that Central Asian states should be proactive and realise that protecting basic human rights of these workers is a must because not only will they help in restructuring their economies in the future but also spur their economic development in a post COVID-19 world.
Thefourth speaker was Ms Rameesa PM who presented a paper titled, ‘The Role of Government and Non-governmental Organizations in the Integration of Returned Migrants: A Case Study of the State of Kerala, India in the context of COVID-19’.
Overview of Kerala’s management of COVID-19
Ms PM emphasised on the work carried out by the Kerala government in managing the migrant crisis amidst COVID-19 while underlining both the positives and negatives of their aspects. With remittances being an integral factor in Kerala’s economy, the state is projected to be severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis. As Kerala was the first state to diagnose the first positive case of the virus in the country, the state government constructively prioritised healthcare during the lockdown to not only set up an effective mechanism to tackle COVID-19 but also to reintegrate the vast number of returning and internal migrants. Ms PM also highlighted the various policy level interventions and the subsidy facilities that the government facilitated to ease the troubles of the migrant workers and ensure their food security as an immediate pandemic relief measure. She mentioned that the state government also took dynamic steps to launch several long term policies to boost the local economy as well as trying to generate employment for the migrant influx. Several non-governmental organisations also extended their support in arranging groceries, food, masks, sanitizers and monetary support to the stranded migrants. Ms PM also outlined the major gaps and challenges in integration policies and how the elderly migrants are the worst hit considering their age would be a barrier for them to later compete in the job market in the future. She also pointed out the gender gaps in the process of migration in the post pandemic era and how more policies for female domestic migrant workers are needed. Thus, in giving a holistic approach to Kerala’s management of COVID-19, Ms PM concluded by saying “We must be prepared with the possibility of majority of return migrants emigrating according to historical pattern of migration in Kerala”. Hence, there is a need for stakeholders to accommodate the reality of resuming migrant mobility and make changes to safeguard the interests of migrants along with addressing the issue of integration.
The last speaker of the session was Mr Chinelo L. Njaka who presented a paper titled, ‘Black Diasporas in the United kingdom: COVID-19, Black Lives Matter and the International Decade for People of Black Descent.’
Challenges faced by Black Diasporas
Mr Njaka delved into a much needed topic and highlighted how the Black diasporas in the UK are subjected to racism and discrimination. Educating the listeners about the International decade for people of African Descent (IDPAD), he pointed out how the UK has not implemented it at the national level despite having a noted history of racial inequalities. He also emphasised on the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM) and how despite working within the global framework of BLM, the UK movement has its own specific agreements and functioning. It is a collective network of activists, organisers and scholars that are unified in their fight for racial justice. Mr Njaka stressed on the importance of this by quoting E. Tendayi Achiume- “the harsh reality is that race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability status and related catagories all continue to determine the life chances and well-being of people in Britain in ways that are unacceptable and in many cases unlawful.” Hence, he further explained how the post COVID-19 concerns have only heightened wherein racial and ethnic minorities in the UK are experiencing social stigma along with higher rates of diagnosis as compared to the white populations in the UK. Hence, he concluded his presentation by calling on world leaders to challenge and change the socio-economic and environmental injustices experienced by Black communities because of the way they are racialized and consequently work on devising effective steps to better integrate them into the country.
Thus, with this we came to the end of a very captivating session that was indeed an extremely enriching experience for all providing everyone with great insights and new perspectives when it comes to migration issues amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. DrNandini C. Sen who was the chair of the entire session provided valuable inputs and insights to the paper presenters and made the session even more outstanding.
Ujjwala Lakhanpal is a final year student of International Relations and Economics at Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar. Her areas of interest include Conflict Studies, Asian Geopolitics, International Migrations and the Middle East. Ujjwala is also fond of History, Culture and Religion and you will often find her constructing travel plans to explore the same. Twitter Id- UjjwalaLakhanpal@UjjwalaLp