The Politics of Refugee Protection in a (Post)COVID-19 World
The COVID-19 pandemic is not a “great equaliser” as some have claimed, but rather an amplifier of existing inequalities, including those associated with migration. Perhaps not surprisingly, it is refugees, often the most marginalised of all migrants, who have had the most to lose. Refugees and displ...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/3/81 |
| _version_ | 1797417368635310080 |
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| author | Heaven Crawley |
| author_facet | Heaven Crawley |
| author_sort | Heaven Crawley |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The COVID-19 pandemic is not a “great equaliser” as some have claimed, but rather an amplifier of existing inequalities, including those associated with migration. Perhaps not surprisingly, it is refugees, often the most marginalised of all migrants, who have had the most to lose. Refugees and displaced populations living in crowded and unhygienic conditions have often been unable to protect themselves from the virus, face increasing economic precarity and often find themselves excluded from measures to alleviate poverty and hunger. The threat to refugees comes not only from material (in)security, but from increasing exclusion and exceptionalism associated with the politics of protection. Evidence from the first nine months of the pandemic suggests that some governments, in Europe and US but also the Global South, are using COVID-19 as an excuse to double-down on border closures and/or dip into their migration policy toolboxes to demonstrate the robustness of their response to it. Refugees are increasingly prevented from accessing the international protection to which they are potentially entitled or used (alongside migrants more generally) as scapegoats by populist leaders exploiting the pandemic for political mileage. Some states have used the pandemic to push through controversial policies that further limit access to protection and/or institutionalize the marginalization of refugees. In this context, it seems likely that COVID-19 will accelerate the course of history in relation to refugee protection, rather than changing its direction. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:18:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6efa3ad0c95447b1ae1a3b2f7a4711cc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:18:48Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-6efa3ad0c95447b1ae1a3b2f7a4711cc2023-12-03T11:50:24ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602021-02-011038110.3390/socsci10030081The Politics of Refugee Protection in a (Post)COVID-19 WorldHeaven Crawley0Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR), Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UKThe COVID-19 pandemic is not a “great equaliser” as some have claimed, but rather an amplifier of existing inequalities, including those associated with migration. Perhaps not surprisingly, it is refugees, often the most marginalised of all migrants, who have had the most to lose. Refugees and displaced populations living in crowded and unhygienic conditions have often been unable to protect themselves from the virus, face increasing economic precarity and often find themselves excluded from measures to alleviate poverty and hunger. The threat to refugees comes not only from material (in)security, but from increasing exclusion and exceptionalism associated with the politics of protection. Evidence from the first nine months of the pandemic suggests that some governments, in Europe and US but also the Global South, are using COVID-19 as an excuse to double-down on border closures and/or dip into their migration policy toolboxes to demonstrate the robustness of their response to it. Refugees are increasingly prevented from accessing the international protection to which they are potentially entitled or used (alongside migrants more generally) as scapegoats by populist leaders exploiting the pandemic for political mileage. Some states have used the pandemic to push through controversial policies that further limit access to protection and/or institutionalize the marginalization of refugees. In this context, it seems likely that COVID-19 will accelerate the course of history in relation to refugee protection, rather than changing its direction.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/3/81refugeesforced migrationinternational protectionasylumpoliticsCOVID-19 |
| spellingShingle | Heaven Crawley The Politics of Refugee Protection in a (Post)COVID-19 World Social Sciences refugees forced migration international protection asylum politics COVID-19 |
| title | The Politics of Refugee Protection in a (Post)COVID-19 World |
| title_full | The Politics of Refugee Protection in a (Post)COVID-19 World |
| title_fullStr | The Politics of Refugee Protection in a (Post)COVID-19 World |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Politics of Refugee Protection in a (Post)COVID-19 World |
| title_short | The Politics of Refugee Protection in a (Post)COVID-19 World |
| title_sort | politics of refugee protection in a post covid 19 world |
| topic | refugees forced migration international protection asylum politics COVID-19 |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/3/81 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT heavencrawley thepoliticsofrefugeeprotectioninapostcovid19world AT heavencrawley politicsofrefugeeprotectioninapostcovid19world |