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Impacts of COVID-19 on Labour Mobility in the Pacific Region

The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) since March 2020 has amounted to an unprecedented global health crisis. Whilst Pacific Island Countries (PICs) have only registered a small number of COVID-19 cases they are still facing the devastating impacts on key economic sectors such as tourism, trade and labour mobility as a consequence of travel restrictions, border closures and quarantine measures. The United Nations (UN) and development partners are working together to present evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on lives and livelihoods in PICs. This factsheet presents findings and conclusions from an IOM rapid assessment of how COVID-19 has affected labour mobility and broader migration trends in the Pacific region since March 2020. Over 30 informant interviews were conducted in eight countries. This includes interviews and surveys with seasonal workers, temporary labour migrants, employers in countries of destination, migrant households, aspirant migrant workers and relevant government officials. The countries covered under the assessment include Fiji, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu in addition to Australia, New Zealand and the United States as countries of destination.