COVID-19

Moving Beyond Pandemic

Trapped by Italy’s Policy Paradox, Asylum Seekers and Other Migrants Can Fall into Exploitative Farm Labor

EU rules can trap asylum seekers in Italy, where restrictive policies and an agriculture sector reliant on unauthorized labor push many into exploitative networks.

Bridging the Gap between the Gig Economy and Migration Policy

Gig economy growth has outpaced migration policy. Visa frameworks built for traditional employment leave platform workers without protections or legal pathways, requiring the need to bridge the gap.

Mapping Global Human Mobility in an Increasingly Complex World

Featuring the IOM Deputy Director General for Operations, this webinar explored trends of human mobility in a post-pandemic world, with climate change adding to the complexity of movements.

Title 42 Postmortem: U.S. Pandemic-Era Expulsions Policy Did Not Shut Down the Border

Nearly 3 million migrant expulsions occurred under Title 42. Use of the authority to expel border arrivals, which bypassed U.S. asylum law, drove up recidivism and “gotaways.”

The State of Global Mobility in the Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 shut down global mobility during the first year of the pandemic. But 2022 saw a rapid rebound. This IOM-MPI report reveals shifting patterns post-pandemic, from Gulf labor flows to climate-driven displacement.

Converging Crises: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in South America

COVID-19 border closures deepened migrants' precarity in South America, excluding millions of displaced Venezuelans from jobs, legal status, and social protections in their host countries.

Coordination Breakdown: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in Europe

COVID-19 disrupted migration across Europe, exposing coordination failures. The EU Digital COVID Certificate offers a model for future crisis preparedness.

Diverging Paths: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in the Middle East and North Africa

COVID-19 sharpened divides in the MENA region: The mass departure of migrant workers allowed high-income Gulf states to pursue labor reforms, while North Africa and Lebanon faced compounding crises.

Lessons from COVID-19: Managing Borders in the Next Global Public-Health Crisis

COVID-19 gave rise to a complex web of mobility restrictions and exemptions, yet governments moved on without extracting key lessons. Several principles can make border management smarter next time.