Immigration and Emigration During Pandemic
- Adrija Guhathakurta
- June 14, 2020
Content :
The article has focused on the various tenets of the challenges faced by the world when it comes to the immigration practices and policies during pandemics and epidemics. It has also put forth the inherent connection between the International Human Rights Law and Immigration and the reason behind the existence of such a strong interlink between the two tangents, mostly facing obstacles and hindrances at the time of global health emergencies. Migrants have been always subject to discrimination on the basis of their legal status in countries they migrate to. Apart from that, various reasons are responsible for pushing this part of the world population into the minority sector of countries across the world. These reasons mainly include those of economic, political and social nature. The article has also highlighted a short overview of how pandemics were dealt with during the early and the latter half of the 20th century along with the way UN and WHO further maintained the policies as certain pandemics continued on to early 21st Century. The article has, further, compared the measures taken in the cases of Spanish Flu and Tuberculosis with the steps initiated by the world in the current scenario of COVID-19. As we look at the historical timeline of pandemics, we can see there has always existed a link between the inherent fear of the local people to lose their position of luxury as migrants begin to take up their place in different jobs that usually require labor work and other such mechanical errands to be run. But this theory has been grossly manipulated by the government to close the gates of their countries, which by the way, has also been brilliantly countered by Abijit Banerjee with a different approach. There is dire need for a set of new strategic management policies that will help maintain the basic human rights of the immigrants. But, above all, the society needs to change its mindset as that forms the fundamental basis for xenophobic interference in the provision of right amount of facilities to the immigrants, be it on the basis of medical resources or economic opportunities.
