The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Lockdown on the Health and Living Conditions of Undocumented Migrants and Migrants Undergoing Legal Status Regularization
Introduction: Undocumented migrants are at high risk of adverse consequences during crises because of a lack of access to essential securities and sources of support. This study aims to describe the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the health and living circumstances of precarious migrants in Switze...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.596887/full |
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| author | Claudine Burton-Jeangros Claudine Burton-Jeangros Aline Duvoisin Aline Duvoisin Sarah Lachat Liala Consoli Liala Consoli Julien Fakhoury Julien Fakhoury Yves Jackson |
| author_facet | Claudine Burton-Jeangros Claudine Burton-Jeangros Aline Duvoisin Aline Duvoisin Sarah Lachat Liala Consoli Liala Consoli Julien Fakhoury Julien Fakhoury Yves Jackson |
| author_sort | Claudine Burton-Jeangros |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Undocumented migrants are at high risk of adverse consequences during crises because of a lack of access to essential securities and sources of support. This study aims to describe the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the health and living circumstances of precarious migrants in Switzerland and to assess whether those undergoing legal status regularization fared better than undocumented migrants.Materials and methods: This cross-sectional mixed methods study was conducted during the COVID-19 lockdown in April–May 2020. Undocumented and recently regularized migrants taking part in an ongoing cohort study were asked to respond to an online questionnaire. A subsample was selected to undergo semi-directed phone interviews.Results: Overall, 117 of the 379 (30.9%) cohort study participants responded to the questionnaire. Seventeen interviews were conducted. Migrants faced cumulative and rapidly progressive difficulties in essential life domains. As a consequence, they showed high prevalence of exposure to COVID-19, poor mental health along with frequent avoidance of health care. Moreover, the loss of working hours and the related income overlapped with frequent food and housing insecurity. Around one participant in four had experienced hunger. Despite these unmet needs, half of the participants had not sought external assistance for reasons that differ by legal status. Both groups felt that seeking assistance might represent a threat for the renewal or a future application for a residency permit. While documented migrants were less severely affected in some domains by having accumulated more reserves previously, they also frequently renounced to sources of support.Conclusions: The cumulated difficulties faced by migrants in this period of crisis and their limited search for assistance highlight the need to implement trust-building strategies to bridge the access gap to sources of support along with policies protecting them against the rapid loss of income, the risk of losing their residency permit and the exposure to multi-fold insecurities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T22:16:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7b8747630fd84431add97f937af83b31 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T22:16:51Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-7b8747630fd84431add97f937af83b312022-12-21T21:30:35ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652020-12-01810.3389/fpubh.2020.596887596887The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Lockdown on the Health and Living Conditions of Undocumented Migrants and Migrants Undergoing Legal Status RegularizationClaudine Burton-Jeangros0Claudine Burton-Jeangros1Aline Duvoisin2Aline Duvoisin3Sarah Lachat4Liala Consoli5Liala Consoli6Julien Fakhoury7Julien Fakhoury8Yves Jackson9Institute of Sociological Research, University of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandSwiss NCCR “LIVES - Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives”, University of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandSwiss NCCR “LIVES - Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives”, University of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandCenter for the Interdisciplinary Study of Gerontology and Vulnerability, University of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandFaculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, London, United KingdomSwiss NCCR “LIVES - Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives”, University of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandCenter for the Interdisciplinary Study of Gerontology and Vulnerability, University of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandSwiss NCCR “LIVES - Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives”, University of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandCenter for the Interdisciplinary Study of Gerontology and Vulnerability, University of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandDivision of Primary Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospital and University of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandIntroduction: Undocumented migrants are at high risk of adverse consequences during crises because of a lack of access to essential securities and sources of support. This study aims to describe the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the health and living circumstances of precarious migrants in Switzerland and to assess whether those undergoing legal status regularization fared better than undocumented migrants.Materials and methods: This cross-sectional mixed methods study was conducted during the COVID-19 lockdown in April–May 2020. Undocumented and recently regularized migrants taking part in an ongoing cohort study were asked to respond to an online questionnaire. A subsample was selected to undergo semi-directed phone interviews.Results: Overall, 117 of the 379 (30.9%) cohort study participants responded to the questionnaire. Seventeen interviews were conducted. Migrants faced cumulative and rapidly progressive difficulties in essential life domains. As a consequence, they showed high prevalence of exposure to COVID-19, poor mental health along with frequent avoidance of health care. Moreover, the loss of working hours and the related income overlapped with frequent food and housing insecurity. Around one participant in four had experienced hunger. Despite these unmet needs, half of the participants had not sought external assistance for reasons that differ by legal status. Both groups felt that seeking assistance might represent a threat for the renewal or a future application for a residency permit. While documented migrants were less severely affected in some domains by having accumulated more reserves previously, they also frequently renounced to sources of support.Conclusions: The cumulated difficulties faced by migrants in this period of crisis and their limited search for assistance highlight the need to implement trust-building strategies to bridge the access gap to sources of support along with policies protecting them against the rapid loss of income, the risk of losing their residency permit and the exposure to multi-fold insecurities.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.596887/fullCOVID-19migrantimpactlockdownundocumentedhealth |
| spellingShingle | Claudine Burton-Jeangros Claudine Burton-Jeangros Aline Duvoisin Aline Duvoisin Sarah Lachat Liala Consoli Liala Consoli Julien Fakhoury Julien Fakhoury Yves Jackson The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Lockdown on the Health and Living Conditions of Undocumented Migrants and Migrants Undergoing Legal Status Regularization Frontiers in Public Health COVID-19 migrant impact lockdown undocumented health |
| title | The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Lockdown on the Health and Living Conditions of Undocumented Migrants and Migrants Undergoing Legal Status Regularization |
| title_full | The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Lockdown on the Health and Living Conditions of Undocumented Migrants and Migrants Undergoing Legal Status Regularization |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Lockdown on the Health and Living Conditions of Undocumented Migrants and Migrants Undergoing Legal Status Regularization |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Lockdown on the Health and Living Conditions of Undocumented Migrants and Migrants Undergoing Legal Status Regularization |
| title_short | The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Lockdown on the Health and Living Conditions of Undocumented Migrants and Migrants Undergoing Legal Status Regularization |
| title_sort | impact of the covid 19 pandemic and the lockdown on the health and living conditions of undocumented migrants and migrants undergoing legal status regularization |
| topic | COVID-19 migrant impact lockdown undocumented health |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.596887/full |
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