3m migrants stranded by Covid-19, says UN report

BORDER closures and restrictions necessitated by Coronavirus have rendered nearly three million migrants stranded around the world, who want to return home but cannot, says an International Organisation for Migration (IOM) report released on Friday. 

According to the UN migration agency report, which is the most comprehensive to date on the issue, covering more than 100 countries, some of the migrants had been warehoused in unhygienic settings.

The Director General of the agency, António Vitorino in a statement, said the figure includes only migrants — such as seafarers stuck on decommissioned ships, miners or construction workers who want to return but are unable to do so because of the COVID-19 restrictions.

“It should be clear that migrants can be returned home in a safe and dignified manner despite the constraints imposed by Covid-19. Some stranded migrants have been confined in unclean quarters and where social distancing was impossible, placing them at risk of disease. Others face abuse, exploitation and neglect,” Vitorino stated.

He noted that the worst hit region is the Middle East and North Africa, which accounts for 1.275 million of the total of 2.75 million in the IOM tally. Second was Asia with nearly a million.

According to IOM spokesperson, Paul Dillon, 648,000 stranded migrants were in the United Arab Emirates and were often construction labourers from East Africa and Asia, while 280,000 were stuck in Saudi Arabia. Others are stuck on board idle cruise ships, often not even granted the opportunity to go above deck.

“It’s a very dire situation to be trapped below deck for six months. Migrants are key, they are central to a robust global economy,” he said.