Precarious migrants and COVID-19 responses: leave no one behind

Science Direct: Precarious migrants and COVID-19 responses: leave no one behind

Authors: M.-C.Van Hout C.Bigland A.Marsden A.Bangura F.Ngcobo L.M.Mponela G.McMahon

The continuous rise in forced displacement worldwide is alarming. Global inequality continues to fuel migration. The most recent Global Trends report by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reveals a concerning rise in forced displacement globally, with 82.4 million people displaced worldwide, with children representing 42%, with 1 million born in displacement between 2018 and 2020. According to the United Nations Migration Agency’s (IOM) World Migration Report 2022, global displacement is rising despite COVID-19 restrictions.

Estimating the numbers of precarious migrants is difficult. The population is de facto hidden. In Europe, it is estimated that between 3.9 and 4.8 million precarious migrants lived in Europe in 2017, an increase on 2014, but stable since 2016. In the United Kingdom, the estimated population of precarious migrants ranges between 417,000 and 863,000, including a population of UK-born children ranging between 44,000 and 144,000.

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