Stranded or shunned: Europe’s migrant workers caught in no-man’s land
Border closures, suspicion and limited access to a state safety net – the pandemic is exposing the migrant labour trap
For tens of thousands of workers around Europe #stayathome has been a painful urge. The pandemic has laid bare the trap for many of the continent’s migrant workers: stay at work, often on the social care frontline, and potentially risk infection, or return to their home country jobless and stigmatised.
Many people from Europe’s poorest regions, who took advantage of freedom of movement, are now caught in a no-man’s land, with border closures, no repatriation flights if they’ve lost their low-paid jobs, few savings, and limited or no access to a state safety net by virtue of anomalous social security provisions. If they do manage to return home, some also face the suspicion that they’ve carried the virus back with them.