Objective 7: Address and reduce vulnerabilities in migration

As of January 2019, the Government of Mexico launched the Migrant Caravan Attention Plan, in which all federal agencies participate, under the direction of the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection and the Ministry of the Interior, especially the INM and under the coordination of the National Coordination of Civil Protection (CNPC). The Plan, that has been implemented since the beginning of the new government, establishes interinstitutional actions to ensure a humanitarian approach to the arrival of migrants and to regulate their entry so that it is legal, orderly and safe.

Mexico has developed a series of protocols and documents to guarantee the rights of people in mobility contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially related to the right to health.

These instruments are the following: 

Norka-Roots training programme for vulnerable women with ‘Trivandrum Social Service Society (TSSS) CSO, provides facilities and training for women from most vulnerable groups via grassroots CSO networks to foster employment in destination countries, and in particular in GCC countries.

Ecuador has implemented social protection programmes, regularization and integration processes, as well as plans to attend the requests for refugee status to face the Venezuelan migration phenomenon. The “Comprehensive Plan for the Attention and Protection of the Venezuelan Population in Situation of Human Mobility 2020-2021” constitutes the roadmap for actions of national institutions and the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry in relation to Venezuelan migration.

Solidarity Cities is an initiative on the management of the refugee crisis proposed by the Mayor of Athens and launched in the framework of the EUROCITIES network. It aims to constitute the framework under which all cities actions and initiatives are presented highlighting the political leadership of cities in addressing this challenge.

In Italy, the System for the Protection of Refugees and Unaccompanied Minors (SIPROMI) is a publicly funded network of local authorities and NGOs, which accommodates unaccompanied children and provides them access to the Italian social protection system, including legal support, legal guardianship, access to health, including psychological counselling, access to Italian language classes and to mainstream education programmes. In some contexts, opportunities for vocational training and job opportunities through partnerships with social cooperatives and the private sector.

New York City, US launched a municipal program in 2019 to expand universal health care so that regardless of insurance, ability to pay, or immigration status all residents can seek services without fear of discrimination. Having established this program prior to COVID-19 was critical to the city’s ability to respond rapidly and inclusively when the pandemic hit

The COVID-19 pandemic represented a major public health challenge and had serious economic and social impacts on origin, transit and destination countries, as well as on migrant workers and their families and on businesses and their operations. This informative note presents policy options in order to ensure comprehensive social protection for migrant workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Spain offers universal access to basic health services. Beyond the most favourable scheme enjoyed by EU nationals covered by EU common legislation, all migrants staying in Spain, irrespective of legal status, have access to the basic national health system. This measure has proved its utility during the pandemic.

This policy brief provides information and identifies a number of key recommendations to assist governments and other stakeholders in designing COVID-19 policy responses that can help to ensure the protection of migrant workers, as well as to inform responses for the protection of refugees and those displaced working in countries other than their own, differentiated by gender as appropriate and based upon relevant international labour standards, and ILO guidance and good practices.