UN News, Global, 13 June 2020 - The scale of the problem is huge, with roughly 220 countries imposing over 60,000 travel and mobility restrictions. For many migrant workers, the consequences have been disastrous, as unemployment rises sharply in sectors that traditionally rely on their labour, such as tourism and construction.
Triple Pundit, Global, 11 June 2020 - Every year, an estimated 164 million people cross national borders for work. The money they send home feeds, houses and clothes their families, who they don't see for months or even years at a time. As strangers in strange lands, their lives are often difficult — and they're only growing harder in light of the new coronavirus. With businesses shuttered and the global economy at a standstill, countless migrant workers find themselves in limbo.
Aljazeera, Nepal, 10 June 2020 - Dev Bishwo Karma waited for hours by the side of a remote mountain road in the northwestern Nepali district of Karnali in late May, hoping to somehow find a way home.
The Guardian, Middle East, 9 June 2020 - During 14 years in Lebanon, Jevie Olido’s four children have grown up without her, her marriage has failed and her parents have grown old. Now, the income that kept her far from her home in the Philippines has also gone, rubbed out by the coronavirus crisis and an economic implosion that has forced thousands of desperate domestic workers like her to look for ways to leave.
Aljazeera, India, 9 June 2020 - India's Supreme Court has ordered states to identify stranded migrant workers and transport them back to their hometowns within 15 days as the humanitarian crisis surrounding their movement has continued over weeks of the coronavirus lockdown.
Nikkei Asian Review, Singapore, 9 June 2020 - For one Bangladeshi migrant worker, this year has been his "worst experience" in Singapore.
Relief Web, Global, 9 June 2020 - COVID-19 has caused mass global disruption and placed the most vulnerable, including men and women migrant workers and their children, in great hardship. Containment measures, notably border closures and movement restrictions, have had a significant impact on migrants, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and potentially increasing transmission risks. Loss of income has led to insecurity, increased risks of violence and rising debts for this already vulnerable group, including for families for whom remittances are a critical income source.
Inquirer.net, Thailand, 9 June 2020 - The Thai government wants Myanmar migrant workers to stay in Thailand rather than return to their homeland during the Covid-19 crisis.
Malaysiakini, Malaysia, 9 June 2020 - ‘Just because some had created problems, it doesn’t mean all of them are troublemakers.’
The Star, Singapore, 9 June 2020 - As Sharif Uddin contemplates leaving the cramped Singapore dormitory where he has spent weeks under coronavirus quarantine, fears about his future creep in.
The Straits Times, Singapore, 8 June 2020 - Masked up, gloved and robed in protective gear, a figure hurries to and fro at the medical post in Homestay Lodge dormitory, where there is a cluster of over 500 Covid-19 cases now. But he is not a nurse, soldier or police officer sent by the Government to handle the large number of Covid-19 cases among migrant workers in dormitories.
The Indian Express, India, 8 June 2020 - A problem in dealing with issues relating to migrant labour after the lockdown was announced on March 25 has been the absence of firm estimates of the number of displaced.
The Edge Markets, Malaysia, 5 June 2020 - The coronavirus pandemic has left Malaysia’s palm oil industry without enough workers, a shortage that could cost farmers as much as 25% of their annual production — a loss worth about US$2.8 billion.
UN News, India, 4 June 2020 - “We are appalled at the disregard shown by the Indian Government towards internal migrant laborers, especially those who belong to marginalized minorities and lower castes”, said the Special Rapporteurs on the right to housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, and on extreme poverty, Olivier De Schutter.
The Straits Times, Singapore, 5 June 2020 - There's nothing like music to touch the heart and break through barriers.
