Mixed Migration Centre: COVID-19 global update #1 - Impact of COVID-19 on refugees and migrants

This is the first update on the situation for refugees and migrants on mixed migration routes around the world in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data collected by MMC, the objective of the global updates is to provide regular up-to-date findings on COVID-19 awareness, knowledge and risk perception, access to information, access to healthcare, assistance needs and the impact on refugees’ and migrants’ lives and migration journeys. Published once every two weeks, this series provides an aggregated overview; more detailed, thematic and response-oriented COVID-19 snapshots are also developed in each of the MMC regional offices and available here: mixedmigration.org/resource-type/covid-19/

Key messages

• Interviewed refugees and migrants in Colombia, Peru, Libya and Tunisia show high levels of awareness and knowledge on COVID-19; hardly anyone has been tested.

• The national government is most often seen as a trustworthy source of information on COVID-19, but it is not always the most used. In Libya, for example, other migrants are the main source of information.

• Across the 4 countries, only 37% of interviewed refugees and migrants said they could access healthcare if they had coronavirus symptoms, although in Colombia more than half said they could.

• The main barriers to healthcare for the refugees and migrants are discrimination against foreigners, lack of money and lack of legal documents, while in Libya fear of being reported and general insecurity play a slightly larger role than among respondents in other countries.

• Over 85% of respondents said they need additional assistance since the crisis began, but less than one-third on average had received additional assistance. Respondents primarily cite basic needs: food, water and shelter, but also cash and sanitary items.

• More than two-thirds of respondents said they had lost income due to COVID-19 restrictions, with highest percentages in Colombia and Peru. Respondents cite reduced access to work as the main impact of the crisis.

• Most respondents had not yet changed their migration plans due to the crisis, although respondents in North Africa report a greater impact of the COVID-19 crisis on their migration journeys than those in Colombia and Peru.