MPI's Migration Information Source Newsletter

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December 16, 2020

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Top 10
Top 10 Migration Issues of 2020
www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/migration-information-source/top-10-migration-issues-2020
The COVID-19 pandemic had a sweeping impact on global migration and mobility in 2020. The year also saw further erosion of the humanitarian protection system, movement sparked by natural disasters, and other major developments. Check out our annual countdown of what we see as the most significant migration developments of the year.

Feature
Building Climate Resilience through Migration in Thailand
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/building-climate-resilience-through-migration-thailand
Migration can help build resilience against the encroaching effects of climate change. Instead of being passive victims of environmental degradation, individuals sometimes move to gain money, knowledge, and skills that can fortify their household of origin. Migrant workers from Thailand demonstrate how and under what conditions this process works.


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EDITOR'S NOTE

The year 2020 will be remembered as an historic one for migration, particularly because of the global movement that was stopped in its tracks, delayed, or otherwise affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is difficult to fully appreciate the extent of the outbreak's impact on migration and human mobility more generally, but the Migration Information Source's look at the Top 10 Migration Issues of the Year sought to sketch some of the ways in which the public-health crisis affected 2020.

The coronavirus was far from the only reason that this will be a memorable year for migration. For refugees and asylum seekers, the last 12 months saw further erosion of the global protection regime, while at the same time long-running crises from Venezuela to Yemen continued to fester. Natural disasters spurred the displacement of millions around the world, in the latest evidence of the connection between extreme weather and migration, whether temporary or permanent. And the Black Lives Matter movement, which was born as a U.S. response to police violence, grew to become a rallying cry for immigrants and their families internationally.

With a vaccine now beginning to be administered in a handful of countries, it seems possible that the planet will make considerable progress against the coronavirus in 2021. Yet its impacts will continue to be felt widely, including in the mobility realm. Because of hurdles such as lingering border restrictions and economic dislocation, the International Air Transport Association does not expect passenger air travel to return to 2019 levels until 2024 "at the earliest."

Even when international movement does return to pre-pandemic levels, it will likely look significantly different than it did before. Health checks, coronavirus tests, and vaccination records are already starting to become necessary to cross international borders. And the example of quick, unilateral border lockdowns undoubtedly will linger as a policy response to future challenges. My colleague Meghan Benton has investigated many of these questions on the Migration Policy Institute's new podcast, Moving Beyond Pandemic.

Of course, the Source will be analyzing and interrogating these issues around the world in the new year and in the years to come--as will MPI more broadly. I hope you enjoy this newsletter and stay tuned to see what 2021 brings. Please let me know if there are elements, areas, or themes that you would like us to explore in the new year.

Wishing you happy, safe holidays and a pleasant start to 2021.


Best regards,

Julian Hattem

Editor, Migration Information Source

[email protected]


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NEW FROM MPI

The Divergent Trajectories of the Global Migration and Refugee Compacts: Implementation amid Crisis
www.migrationpolicy.org/research/divergent-trajectories-global-migration-refugee-compacts
By Lena Kainz, Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan and Kathleen Newland

The Role of Immigrant Health-Care Professionals in the United States during the Pandemic
www.migrationpolicy.org/news/role-immigrant-health-care-professionals-united-states-during-pandemic
By Michael Fix, Jeanne Batalova and José Ramón Fernández-Peña

How the Fear of Immigration Enforcement Affects the Mental Health of Latino Youth
www.migrationpolicy.org/news/how-fear-immigration-enforcement-affects-mental-health-latino-youth
By Randy Capps and Michael Fix

Construcción de un nuevo sistema migratorio regional: Redefiniendo la cooperación entre Estados Unidos con México y Centroamérica
www.migrationpolicy.org/research/construccion-nuevo-sistema-migratorio-regional
By Andrew Selee and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto


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HAVE YOU READ?

Trump's Promise of Millions of Deportations Is Yet to Be Fulfilled
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/trump-deportations-unfinished-mission

Once a Destination for Migrants, Post-Gaddafi Libya Has Gone from Transit Route to Containment
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/once-destination-migrants-post-gaddafi-libya-has-gone-transit-route-containment

Impacts of Climate Change as Drivers of Migration
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/impacts-climate-change-drivers-migration


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ADVERTISEMENT

Researchers at Suffolk University are looking for participants for a study on how COVID-19 has affected the mental health of young adults who are legally vulnerable immigrants or have legally vulnerable immigrant parents
suffolk.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0eqNTFaEhJ9zgYl


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MEDIA CORNER

Assimilation: An Alternative History, by Catherine S. Ramírez, investigates power, equality, and the gap between assimilation and citizenship.
www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520300712/assimilation

Olayiwola Abegunrin and Sabella O. Abidde are the editors of African Migrants and the Refugee Crisis, which uses an African lens to evaluate migration trends.
link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-56642-5

Lisa A. Flores looks at the use of language around immigrants in the United States in Deportable and Disposable: Public Rhetoric and the Making of the "Illegal" Immigrant.
www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-08788-7.html

Southern African borders and borderlands are the focus of Borders, Sociocultural Encounters and Contestations: Southern African Experiences in Global View, edited by Christopher Changwe Nshimbi, Inocent Moyo, and Jussi P. Laine.
www.routledge.com/Borders-Sociocultural-Encounters-and-Contestations-Southern-African-Experiences/Nshimbi-Moyo-Laine/p/book/9780367408466

Stephanie Motz studies how people with disabilities fit into the legal definition of refugees in The Refugee Status of Persons with Disabilities.
www.brill.com/view/title/57237?contents=editorial-content

Elias Steinhilper explores social movements of migrants in Migrant Protest: Interactive Dynamics in Precarious Mobilizations.
www.aup.nl/en/book/9789463722223/migrant-protest


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