COVID‐19 CRISIS THROUGH A MIGRATION LENS: #InThisTogether

What are the impacts of the current economic and health crisis on migration and remittance flows worldwide?

The sudden lockdowns, travel bans and social distancing requirements due to COVID‐19 had disproportionate effects on migrants. In the immediate aftermath, in the second quarter of 2020, employment levels for migrant workers fell precipitously (in the United States, e.g., it dropped 21 per cent for foreign‐born workers, compared with 15 per cent for native‐born workers). Judging from past experiences (e.g. during the global recession of 2009), it can take years before foreign‐born employment levels recover. New migration flows have come to a halt, while return migration has increased sharply, with the result that the stock of international migrants will register a decline for the first time in the past seven decades.

The crisis has severely affected remittance flows to low‐ and middle‐income countries. In 2019, remittances reached a record $548 billion, a level that surpasses foreign direct investment and is three times the amount of official development assistance. Due to the crisis, remittances are expected to decline by 7.2 per cent in 2020 and again by 7.5 per cent in 2021 (World Bank, 2020a,2020b). This is unprecedented—during the global recession in 2009, remittances declined by only 5 per cent. The sharp decline in remittances is expected to throw millions of people back into poverty and food insecurity.

A unique effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic on remittances has occurred through the closures of money transfer operators. Gradually, more operators have been allowed to open. There has been some shift from cash‐based flows to mobile or Internet‐based remittances, although cash‐based remittances still account for over 80 per cent of all transactions. However, the majority of lower‐skilled migrants, particularly those employed in informal sectors or in irregular status, and their families back home, do not have bank accounts. Also, money transfer operators have faced difficulties in opening accounts with correspondent banks.

The crisis has exposed significant data gaps that have prevented real‐time monitoring of remittance flows and migratory movements including stranded migrants and returning migrants. There is a pressing need to improve relevant data collection systems. Safeguarding the flows of remittances requires inclusive approaches to migrants. Governments of both host and origin countries must support the remittance infrastructure. These include recognizing remittance services as essential so that they may continue to operate, reducing the burden of remittance fees on migrants, incentivizing digital money transfers, and mitigating factors that prevent customers or remittance service providers from accessing banking services. The World Bank through the Global Knowledge Program on Migration and Development (KNOMAD) is launching an International Working Group on Improving Data on Remittances in collaboration with National Statistical Offices, central banks and selected international organizations to improve data on remittances and international cooperation in the collection and dissemination of data. Plus, the Governments of Switzerland and the United Kingdom jointly launched a Call to Action “Remittances in Crisis: How to Keep Them Flowing”, in partnership with institutional partners, including the World Bank (KNOMAD) and the UNCDF. The coalition now includes thirty member states, UNDP, IOM, the International Association of Money Transfer Networks and the International Chamber of Commerce and several other organizations from the civil society and the private sector. Also, in response to the UN Secretary General's call for global solidarity in addressing the COVID pandemic, IFAD launched the Remittance Community Taskforce to come up with immediate measures to really address the impact of COVID on remittances.

中文翻译：

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通过COVID-19和经济危机保持全球移民治理的方向

通过迁移镜头进行的COVID‐19危机：#InThisTogether

当前的经济和健康危机对全球移民和汇款流量有何影响？

由于COVID-19导致的突然停工，旅行禁令和社会疏远要求对移民产生了不成比例的影响。紧接着，在2020年第二季度，移民工人的就业水平急剧下降（例如，在美国，外国出生的工人下降了21％，而本地出生的工人下降了15％）。根据过去的经验（例如，2009年全球经济衰退），外国出生的就业水平恢复可能需要数年的时间。新的移民流动已停止，而回返移民却急剧增加，其结果是，国际移徙者的存量将在过去七十年中首次出现下降。

这场危机严重影响了向中低收入国家的汇款流量。2019年，汇款达到创纪录的5480亿美元，超过了外国直接投资，是官方发展援助金额的三倍。由于危机的影响，预计汇款在2020年将下降7.2％，在2021年将再次下降7.5％（世界银行，2020a，2020b）。这是史无前例的-在2009年全球经济衰退期间，汇款仅下降了5％。汇款的急剧下降预计将使数百万人重新陷入贫困和粮食不安全状况。

通过关闭汇款运营商，COVID-19大流行对汇款产生了独特的影响。逐渐地，更多的操作员被允许打开。尽管基于现金的汇款仍占所有交易的80％以上，但从基于现金的汇款到基于移动或基于Internet的汇款已发生了一些转变。但是，大多数低技能移民，特别是那些从事非正规部门或处于非正规身份的移民，以及他们的家乡没有银行账户。此外，汇款运营商在与代理银行开户方面也面临困难。

这场危机暴露了巨大的数据缺口，阻止了对滞留移民和回国移民等汇款流量和移民流动的实时监控。迫切需要改进相关的数据收集系统。保障汇款流量需要对移民采取包容性方法。东道国和原籍国政府都必须支持汇款基础设施。这些措施包括认识到汇款服务是必不可少的，以便它们可以继续运作，减轻移民的汇款费用负担，激励数字货币转账，以及减轻阻止客户或汇款服务提供商获得银行服务的因素。世界银行正在通过全球移民与发展知识计划（KNOMAD）与国家统计局，中央银行和部分国际组织合作成立一个国际汇款数据改进工作组，以改善汇款数据和收集中的国际合作和数据传播。此外，瑞士和联合王国政府与包括世界银行（KNOMAD）和资发基金在内的机构伙伴合作，共同发起了“危机中的汇款：如何保持汇款流动”行动呼吁。该联盟现在包括三十个成员国，开发计划署，国际移民组织，国际汇款网络协会和国际商会以及民间社会和私营部门的其他几个组织。