The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted global human mobility dynamics. This IMR Dispatch examines the historical, bidirectional links between pandemics and mobility and provides an early analysis of how they unfolded during the first nine months of the COVID-19 emergency. Results show, first, that international travel restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus are not a panacea in and of themselves. Second, our analysis demonstrates that the pandemic, government responses, and resulting economic impacts can lead to the involuntary immobility of at-risk populations, such as aspiring asylum-seekers or survival migrants. In a similar fashion, stay-at-home measures have posed dire challenges for those workers who lack options to work from home, as well as for migrants living in precarious, crowded circumstances. Moreover, global economic contraction has increased involuntary immobility by reducing both people’s resources to move and the demand for labor. Third, we show that people’s attempts to protect themselves from the virus can result in shifting patterns of mobility, such as increases in cross-border return migration and urban-to-rural movements. Drawing on international guidance for measures to combat pandemics and relevant frameworks on mobility, we propose approaches to alleviate the burden of travel restrictions on migrants and people aspiring to move, while still addressing the need to contain the pandemic and lessen its repercussions.

COVID-19大流行已经破坏了全球人员流动的动态。该《 IMR调度》研究了大流行与流动之间的历史双向联系，并对它们在COVID-19紧急情况的前9个月中如何展开进行了早期分析。首先，结果表明，与冠状病毒传播作斗争的国际旅行限制本身并不是万能药。其次，我们的分析表明，大流行，政府的反应以及由此产生的经济影响可能导致有风险的人群（例如有抱负的寻求庇护者或生存移民）非自愿地迁移。以类似的方式，留在家中的措施对那些缺乏选择在家上班的工人以及生活在不稳定，拥挤的环境中的移民提出了严峻的挑战。而且，全球经济收缩通过减少人们的迁徙资源和劳动力需求而增加了非自愿的流动性。第三，我们表明，人们为保护自己免受病毒侵害而进行的尝试可能会导致流动方式的转变，例如跨境回返人口迁移和城乡流动的增加。我们根据国际上关于流行病应对措施的指导方针和有关流动性的框架，提出了减轻对移民和有志于迁徙的人的旅行限制负担的方法，同时仍然解决了遏制这一流行病并减轻其影响的需求。我们表明，人们为保护自己免受病毒侵害而进行的尝试可能会导致流动方式的转变，例如跨境回返人口迁移和城乡流动的增加。我们根据国际上关于流行病应对措施的指导方针和有关流动性的框架，提出了减轻对移民和有志于迁徙的人的旅行限制负担的方法，同时仍然解决了遏制这一流行病并减轻其影响的需求。我们表明，人们为保护自己免受病毒侵害而进行的尝试可能会导致流动方式的转变，例如跨境回返人口迁移和城乡流动的增加。我们根据国际上关于流行病应对措施的指导方针和有关流动性的框架，提出了减轻对移民和有志于迁徙的人的旅行限制负担的方法，同时仍然解决了遏制这一流行病并减轻其影响的需求。