At the best of times, there are immense challenges in meeting the public health and healthcare and social care needs of migrant, ethnic, racial and other minority groups in modern societies globally. Over 50 years, scholars, researchers and practitioners have developed principles and exemplars of how to provide culturally competent and effective services for diverse societies. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are in the worst of times, and new thinking is required. We are already seeing the desperate plight of migrants, particularly those in camps and detention centres awaiting their asylum claims to be examined. Millions of people are on the march in countries such as India in scenes not seen since the partition of the country in 1947, when millions died. There is, however, a group of migrants, i.e., those labelled undocumented or irregular, or in a derogatory and inaccurate way illegal, at even greater need than other populations. The numbers and whereabouts of undocumented migrants are unknown, at least to the statutory sector, for self-evident reasons. The immigration authorities and the public usually judge the numbers to be substantial, for example, with estimates in the hundreds of thousands in the UK. They have no legal rights to residence in the country they are in. They live in the shadows of society, fearful of authority, and with little access to services, which are mostly provided by the voluntary sector. Nonetheless, they contribute to the functioning of society usually through low-paid work in difficult settings. There are probably tens of millions of such people across the world. They are in danger of becoming the scapegoats, when they are going to be the foremost victims of the pandemic.

Global assessments suggest that a substantial proportion of labour migrants ends up in situations of extreme exploitation, some of whom are identified as victims of human trafficking. Because large numbers of migrant workers fall into a “grey area” between trafficking (as defined by international and national law) and exploitative labour situations, there is good reason to explore the differences and similarities between the health needs of those who have been identified as trafficked compared to other migrants working in the same labour sector who have not. It is urgent to understand present-day occupational health and safety risks, forms of abuse and exploitation in different sectors and common hazardous working and living conditions to improve prevention and response strategies. This is among the first studies to explore and compare the influence of occupational and other risk exposures on people’s health and well-being and compare the experiences of migrant workers and victims of trafficking across sectors and regions. Our multiregion qualitative study on exploitation and harm experienced by individuals in the textile sector in Argentina, and artisanal gold-mining in Peru and construction sector in Kazakhstan, found important commonalities in the health hazards and financial, social and legal challenges across sectors and regions. In total, we interviewed 71 people; of these, 18 were formally identified victims of trafficking and 53 were migrant workers.

Las evaluaciones mundiales sugieren que una proporción sustancial de los trabajadores migrantes terminan en situaciones de explotación extrema, algunos de los cuales han sido identificados como víctimas de trata de personas. Debido a que un gran número de trabajadores migrantes caen en una "zona gris" entre la trata (como es definida por el derecho internacional y nacional) y situaciones de explotación laboral, hay una buena razón para explorar las diferencias y similitudes entre las necesidades de salud de aquellos que han sido identificados como víctimas de la trata en comparación con otros migrantes que trabajan en el mismo sector de trabajo que no lo han sido. Es urgente comprender los riesgos actuales para salud y la seguridad, las formas de abuso y explotación en los diferentes sectores y las condiciones de trabajo y de vida peligrosas comunes para mejorar las estrategias de prevención y respuesta. Este es uno de los primeros estudios que explora y compara la influencia de las exposiciones de riesgo ocupacionales, entre otros, en la salud y el bienestar de las personas, comparando las experiencias de los trabajadores migrantes y las víctimas de trata en todos los sectores y regiones que lo integran. Nuestro estudio cualitativo multi-región sobre la explotación y el daño sufrido por las personas en el sector textil en Argentina, en la extracción artesanal de oro en Perú y la construcción en Kazajstán, encontró similitudes importantes en los riesgos para la salud y los retos financieros, sociales y legales en todos los sectores y regiones. En total, se entrevistó a 71 personas; de éstos, 18 fueron identificados formalmente como víctimas de trata y 53 eran trabajadores migrantes.

African and EU leaders adopted a political declaration and a common action plan at the Valletta Summit on migration, in Malta, 12-15 November 2015.

The Rome Declaration, adopted at the Ministerial Conference in Rome in 2014, is the key strategic document of the Khartoum Process whereby its members agreed to assist participating states in tackling human trafficking and smuggling between the Horn of Africa and Europe.

This paper will highlight existing guidelines (especially the Migrants in Countries in Crisis Guidelines to protect migrants in countries experiencing conflict or natural disaster) that speak to the findings of our research – and connect them to wider policy developments in the migration sphere. In particular, we reference the global process of the United Nations to establish a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, which aims to “improve the governance on migration, to address the challenges associated with today’s migration, and to strengthen the contribution of migrants and migration to sustainable development”. Our findings provide insight on important challenges to which the global compact for migration can and should speak, as well as practices and recommendations on which stakeholders can act, within or outside of the compact process.

This report presents the comparative findings of research spanning two years on migrants caught in situations of crisis in a destination country. The research focused on the longer-term socio-economic impacts of these crises on migrants, on their families and on the countries affected by the crisis. It was conducted by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), the University of Oxford’s International Migration Institute (IMI) and local research partners in the fieldwork countries, in the context of the larger European Union (EU)-funded project “Migrants in Countries in Crisis: Supporting an Evidence-based Approach for Effective and Cooperative State Action” (MICIC).That EU-funded project aims to improve the capacity of states and other stakeholders to assist and provide protection to migrants who find themselves in countries affected by crisis – through in-depth research, consultations with government and other relevant stakeholders and capacity building. With this three-pronged approach, the project contributes to the global MICIC Initiative, a government-led process co-chaired by the governments of the Philippines and the United States. Based on the inputs of states, civil society, international organisations and private sector stakeholders on both the project and the initiative, the MICIC Initiative released its “Guidelines to Protect Migrants in Countries Experiencing Conflict or Natural Disaster”, to help states and other stakeholders respond to the needs of migrants caught in crisis situations. The empirical research described in this report confirms many of the issues raised and policy priorities recommended in these guidelines.

Este es un estudio exploratorio para analizar la vulnerabilidad y la exposición a riesgos de origen social y natural de los migrantes en México. El objetivo central es analizar la vulnerabilidad de los migrantes ante la violencia y violaciones a derechos humanos, así como ante emergencias de origen natural causadas por fenómenos hidrometeorológicos. Se describirán también las estructuras nacionales para responder a situaciones de emergencia. En casos de procesos sociales como de fenómenos naturales, se destacan los niveles institucionales y no institucionales, y se analiza la forma en la que se incluyen o excluyen a los migrantes y extranjeros dentro de los esfuerzos de gestión de riesgos, prevención de crisis, preparación, respuesta y recuperación, haciendo énfasis en los mandatos, roles y capacidades que podrían fortalecerse para una mejor inclusión de los migrantes

The following pages analyse the roles and best practices, which different stakeholders can adopt in disaster and crisis management, with regard to supporting migrants coping with crises. The paper starts with the discussion of the key concepts of vulnerability and resilience in order to set a frame for stakeholder involvement. Resorting to stakeholder theory, it defines migrants as “dormant stakeholders” in crisis and disaster management, which need to be involved into crisis management in order to make use of their capabilities. Analysing the main challenges of the involvement of migrants, it defines main areas of stakeholder involvement in the different phases of a crisis. Based on examples from the dialogue meetings within the MICIC framework, it further outlines key areas of action and develops suggestions for improving stakeholder inclusion into crisis and disaster management and mitigation.

Both conflicts and natural disasters produce life-threatening situations for citizens and migrants. While violence is at the core of the threat in conflicts, natural hazards represent the threat in natural disasters. During conflict, citizens and non-citizens alike may be the targets of armed attacks and sexual and gender-based violence, and both groups risk forced recruitment into armed forces. In some cases, migrants may be the specific target of violence, as occurred in Libya in 2011. In natural disasters, both populations may be harmed if there is widespread destruction of habitat and livelihoods. Migrants may be more likely to live in neighbourhoods with poor housing and infrastructure, leaving them particularly vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters. In both cases, individuals, families, and affected communities have limited capacity to overcome the threats without the help of national governments, civil society, and private sector actors and, where added capacity is needed, the international community. This issue brief examines the differential impacts of conflicts and natural disasters on migrants. It goes on to discuss existing legal and policy frameworks that guide actions on conflicts and natural disasters and explores practical constraints in responding to the needs of migrants in each type of situation. These include failures in governance at the national and local levels, particularly during conflict, which make protection of noncitizens by host countries difficult; weaknesses in early warning and emergency preparedness systems; difficulties in mounting large-scale evacuations when non-citizens are unable to remain in the affected countries; barriers to effective collaboration between the military and humanitarian actors, particularly in conflict situations; and challenges to reintegrate migrants who must return to their home countries because of conflicts or natural disasters.