GFMD 2021-2022 transition period

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.

Los Angeles, US established a direct cash assistance programme for residents who fall below the poverty line, including undocumented immigrants and informal sector workers. Eligible families received no fee prepaid debit cards of $700-$1,500 based on their income and household size. The Mayor’s office and the non-profit Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles raised $25M from the private sector, philanthropies, and individuals for the programme to distribute directly to residents to meet their basic needs.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Portuguese Government has decided that all immigrants with residence permit applications that were pending at the Aliens and Borders Office (SEF) on 18th March will receive permission for temporary residence and have access to the same rights as all other citizens, including social support. The measure also includes asylum seekers. 

This measure will remain in force until at least July 2020.

The overall objective of the project is to promote the extension of social protection for migrants in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in accordance with international social security standards, by promoting research, informing social dialogue and supporting reform efforts.

The project operates along three main axes:

In the context of return migration, Mexico also started to certify labour competencies, such as knowledge, abilities and skills, of Mexican returnees to facilitate their socio-economic reintegration.

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.

The Italian government decided to relaunch the Decree-Law No. 34/2020, creating two separate pathways to regularize irregular migrant workers that lost their jobs in essential sectors, as a way to respond to labour shortages during the COVID-19 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.

In countries of origin, innovative ways of transnational engagement proved to be efficient to face the health crisis, In Somalia, for instance, health professionals from the diaspora have provided technical support to hospitals in their communities of origin. This new project unveiled by the IOM  in Somalia is part of a continuing effort to address this health care delivery shortage. It uses video cameras, screens, personal computers and digital mobile devices such as tablets to enhance diagnosis and treatment of patients.