Diverging Paths: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in the Middle East and North Africa
Related Content
Highlights
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.
- Nearly 46 percent of globally stranded migrants were in the MENA region at the start of the pandemic in March 2020. India's Vande Bharat Mission repatriated more than 700,000 Gulf workers by the end of 2021.
- As pandemic border closures eliminated legal travel options, irregular departures from North Africa to Europe rose, driven by job losses and political instability in Algeria, Egypt, and Tunisia.
- Gulf states used the pandemic to accelerate kafala reforms and high-wealth visa programs; Lebanon's economic collapse pushed about 90 percent of dual-passport holders to emigrate by 2021.
The shutdown of mobility at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic had drastic effects on movement throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Migrant workers comprise much of the workforce in Arab Gulf states, Jordan, and Lebanon, and many lost their jobs and returned to their countries of origin. Tourism and travel, which represent a sizeable share of GDP for many countries, largely halted. And border closures stranded irregular migrants along many major routes.
Looking back, the global public-health crisis may have been less of a disruptor of existing trends, instead reinforcing and accelerating them. The Gulf has continued its shift away from petrowealth and toward more diversified economies that aim to depend less on migrant workers, and North Africa and Lebanon have become increasingly unstable.
This report is part of a series of studies by MPI’s Task Force on Mobility and Borders during and after COVID-19 that explores opportunities to improve international coordination regarding border management during public-health crises. Other regional case studies in this series look at Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and South America. Thematic studies consider the role of digital health credentials in facilitating movement, the use of risk analysis to shape border policies, and the rise of remote work and “digital nomads.” A final capstone policy brief reflects on lessons for future public-health crises.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 The Pandemic and Mobility Trends
A. Repatriation of Migrant Workers
B. Travel and Tourism
C. Irregular, Spontaneous, and Other Migration Flows
3 The Pandemic’s Impact on Policymaking
A. Enhancing Protections for Migrant Workers
B. Changing Workforce Composition
C. Facilitating Large-Scale Mobility and Travel
4 Moving Forward along Diverging Paths
About the Global Program
The Global Program bridges policy advice, research, and candid dialogue to design effective migration policies, drawing on global evidence and anticipating the forces reshaping how people move.
Related Content
