The Centre on International Migration, Remittances and Diaspora, Lahore School of Economics, inaugurated its second international conference virtually. The webinar, entitled, “Impact of Covid-19 on Migrants, Migration Flows and Remittances: Focus on South and SouthEast Asia” was attended by renowned national and international migration researchers and experts.
Dr Rashid Amjad, Director, CIMRAD, began the proceedings of the webinar by welcoming the guests and thanking the organizers at CIMRAD, speakers and discussants. He asserted that close to 90 million people were expected to fall into poverty as a repercussion of Covid-19, and in reference to the South and South East Asian economies, the future of migrant workers does not seem encouraging. Aspiring migrants had to borrow and spend huge amounts to obtain work visas but are now facing an uncertain future as destination countries toughened their migration policies and air travel remains limited. Amidst all this, he highlighted the opportunity the crisis has provided for governments and policy institutes to think through the migration processes and conditions of work for migrants.
Prof. Phillipe Fargues, the founding director of Migration Policy Centre in Florence, set the tune for the webinar by raising the questions about the nature and impact of the pandemic. The role of migrants in spreading the disease was also looked at.
Dr. GM Arif highlighted the need to consider the pandemic’s impact on labour markets. According to his estimate, 1 to 2.5 percent of Pakistan’s total labour force would be affected as a consequence. He asserted, unemployment could double due to premature return of migrants and virtual stop on outmigration.
Mahendra Kumar Rai, researcher at the Nepal Institute of Development Studies (NIDS), pointed towards the halt in the flow of migrants, which approximately amounted to 1,100 youths every day prior to the pandemic as a major factor impacting the Nepali Economy.
Dr Nasra Shah, professor at Lahore School of Economics, emphasized that the sending countries should remain cognizant of not only the financial situation but also the non-economic factors, such as the impact of Covid-19 on kafala system, chain migration, and attitudes of the host countries that will determine the demand for foreign workers in the Gulf in a post-Covid scenario.
Dr Francoise Dr Bel-Air, senior fellow at the Gulf Labour Markets and Migration Programme (GLMM) spoke on the condition of Asian Migrants in the Gulf on the eve of Covid-19 pandemic. She argued out that an overwhelming of all Asian expatriates in the Gulf constituted of low-skilled workers, pointing towards a heirarchisation of occupation according to countries of origin.
