COVID-19 Response: Thousands of returning migrants have crossed back into Cambodia
Agencies and NGOs in Cambodia are working to coordinate a response to the current situation, and Fortify Rights calls upon Malaysia to release detained refugees to minimize health risks due to COVID-19.
After another difficult week in the battle against COVID-19, we continue to seek a better understanding of the ramifications for communities at risk around the world. We also continue to gather information on the steps organisations are taking, large and small, to meet this moment.
Together with the USAID Asia Counter Trafficking in Persons program implemented by Winrock International, we hosted our first COVID-19 ‘Rapid Response’ Webinar last week, and heard from partners about the current situation in Cambodia.
COVID-19 Response - Updates from the frontlines in Cambodia
As in many places throughout the world, land borders between Thailand and Cambodia have been closed to restrict movement and try to stem the spread of COVID-19. However, thousands of migrants have been able to cross into seven border areas of Cambodia in the past few weeks. As of April 7, 68,706 returning migrants have crossed back into Cambodia and the country continues to receive migrants on a daily basis, ranging in number from 10 to 1000+ every day.
The socio-economic situation of returned migrants is a significant concern. They have lost their jobs and have often left in a rush, without paperwork or final pay, so they have no income or savings. This has an immediate impact on communities, as families throughout Cambodia often depend on the income of their migrating family members.
Agencies and NGOs are working to coordinate a response to the current situation and the needs of these communities. Challenges include: issues related to complicated COVID-19 messaging that is difficult for migrants to understand; sourcing materials and responding to changing situations at the borders quickly; the impossibility of self-isolation for returning migrants; and a lack of identification of trafficking victims and cases of labor exploitation due to the high number of returnees.
Please access the recording of the webinar here, and a written summary here.
Here’s a recap of other noteworthy updates and initiatives:
The Asian Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) released the first issue of its series ‘The Emperor Has No Clothes: Garment Supply Chains in the Time of Pandemic', a booklet that aims to look at global garment supply chains in Asia in the context of COVID-19. The first issue focuses on how COVID-19 has affected garment workers in Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and discusses the impact of the pandemic, and the institutional responses to it, on wage disbursal, social security, migration, and healthcare.
CCR CSR recently interviewed migrant parent workers in China and conducted surveys with factories to piece together the impact of COVID-19 on their lives.
Fortify Rights called upon Malaysia to release detained refugees and prevent the arbitrary detention of new arrivals to minimize health risks due to COVID-19. On April 5, authorities intercepted a boat carrying more than 200 Rohingya refugees who are now quarantined for a two-week period at a location in Langkawi.
Stop the Traffik Kenya shared its official statement on the current COVID-19 pandemic, calling on the government to protect the rights of trafficked persons in Kenya.
Twenty-nine human rights organizations have signed a petition urging Gulf governments to lift bans on free internet access, to help their large migrant workforces access health information and news updates, and stay in touch with others, during the coronavirus pandemic.
A new briefing by FLEX, ‘No worker left behind: protecting vulnerable workers from exploitation during and after the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic’ draws on interviews with workers and frontline services in the UK, and proposes emergency measures to ensure all workers are protected against financial destitution and exploitation.
Infections have seen crowded dormitories locked down in Singapore and have put a spotlight on the country’s treatment of its migrant workers. For now, the government has said that it’s trying to move workers out of their dormitories to reduce the number of people sharing the same space.
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