Impact of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Crisis on Migrants on the Move in Southern Africa: Implications for Policy and Practice

作者：John Mushomi, George Palattiyil, Paul Bukuluki, Dina Sidhva, Nellie Myburgh, Harish Nair, Francis Mulekya-Bwambale, Jacques Lukenze Tamuzi, Peter Suwirakwenda Nyasulu · 发表于：Health Systems & Reform · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1080/23288604.2021.2019571 · 被引用次数：25 · 研究领域：Migration, Health and Trauma、Migration and Labor Dynamics、COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) knows no borders and no single approach may produce a successful impact in controlling the pandemic in any country. In Southern Africa, where migration between countries is high mainly from countries within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries to South Africa, there is limited understanding of how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting the social and economic life of migrants and migrant communities. In this article, we share reflections on the impact of COVID-19 on people on the move within Southern Africa land border communities, examine policy, practice, and challenges affecting both the cross-border migrants and host communities. This calls for the need to assess whether the current response has been inclusive enough and does not perpetuate discriminatory responses. The lockdown and travel restrictions imposed during the various waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in SADC countries, more so in South Africa where the migrant population is high, denote that most migrants living with other comorbidities especially HIV/TB and who were enrolled in chronic care in their countries of origin were exposed to challenges of access to continued care. Further, migrants as vulnerable groups have low access to COVID-19 vaccines. This made them more vulnerable to deterioration of preexisting comorbidities and increased the risk of migrants becoming infected with COVID-19. It is unfortunate that certain disease outbreaks have been racialized...