Executive Summary
country, given that basic background information on migrants is only recorded at the time of departure. In addition, the labor market outcomes of temporary migrants in destination countries are typically unknown because administrative data from host countries cannot be linked to home-country administrative data on migrants. As a result, administrative data are currently of very limited use in understanding temporary migration from South Asia and in designing adequate supporting policies. Some nationally representative surveys in origin countries have covered temporary migrants after their return, but sample sizes are typically small, and detailed information on labor market outcomes at destination is typically lacking (Ahmed et al. 2021; Bossavie and Özden 2022). National household surveys must therefore be expanded or modified so that detailed labor migration modules capture the necessary granularity of data on return migrants. In addition, surveys targeting return migrants, such as the World Bank Bangladesh Return Migrant Survey 2018/19, could be replicated and generalized to other migrant-sending countries. Those surveys allow the collection of in-depth information on the migration and employment histories of temporary migrants at a level of detail that cannot be achieved by standard national household surveys.
IMPLICATIONS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ITS AFTERMATH The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic generated new challenges for South Asian migrants, but mostly exacerbated and brought to light vulnerabilities and migration system insufficiencies that already existed prior to the pandemic. The lack of diversification of migrants’ destinations and economic activities overseas greatly exposed them to the negative shocks associated with COVID-19. Indeed, South Asian migrants are concentrated in markets that have been severely hit by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The GCC countries, the main destination for South Asian migrant workers, have been affected by the pandemic as well as by the suppressed global demand for and price of oil (World Bank 2020). A reduction in labor as well as in materials, capital, and intermediate inputs due to disruptions in transport and business caused a powerful, immediate cascade of supply contractions (IMF 2020).9 Those restrictions have been having a disproportionate impact on the construction sector (the main employment sector for low-skilled migrants from South Asia), which has been shown to expand the most during a boom and to contract the most during a recession (Dell’Ariccia et al. 2020). Many construction sites were closed because of potential infection and spread of the virus, and the risk of infection is high among migrants living in densely populated residential facilities. The hardest hit sectors include retail and wholesale trade, hospitality and leisure, manufacturing, and food service, where a large share of migrants from the region are also employed. The sharp slowdown in economic activity and global mobility have affected temporary migrants from South Asia in numerous ways, enhancing the need for policies supporting safe and productive migration. First, in the short run, many migrant workers already in destination countries have been stranded, often with no jobs, access to health care, or ability to return (Guadagno 2020; Moroz, Shrestha, and Testaverde 2020; World Bank 2020). Second, aspiring migrants have been unable to depart because of travel restrictions imposed in a global
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