Children and families on the move are doubly impacted by COVID-19. They are directly and immediately affected by the socioeconomic fall-out of the pandemic, but they are also disproportionally excluded from response and recovery efforts. This is especially true for migrants in irregular situations, migrant workers with precarious livelihoods or working in the informal economy, and those fleeing their homes due to persecution, war, violence, human rights violations or climate related disasters – whether within their own countries or abroad.
However, the pandemic has also shone a light on the immense contribution they make to their communities and countries. Millions of migrant and displaced people are at the frontline of the COVID-19 response or play a critical role as essential workers, including in the health sector, the formal and informal care economy, and along food supply chains. As workers and income earners, as well as consumers of goods and services, people on the move contribute to generating taxes that strengthen and sustain local economies. Those living outside their country of birth represent 3.4 per cent of the world population yet contribute 9.4 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP)1  – excluding them from the global socio-economic response to COVID-19 hampers everyone’s chance of recovery.
At the same time, with jobs and livelihoods wiped out overnight, little to no savings, remittances dropping dramatically, weak social support networks and limited or no access to social protection to fall back on, millions of migrant workers, their children and those forcibly displaced now face extreme poverty, food insecurity and dire hardship – and in many cases stigma and discrimination due to nationality or migration status further impede their access to support and basic services.