COVID-19: leaving no one behind in Latin America
Authors: Alice Blukacz, Baltica Cabieses
Journal: The Lancet (2020)

The pledge to leave no one behind has been essential in making the plight of refugees more visible1The LancetCOVID-19 will not leave behind refugees and migrants.Lancet. 2020; 395: 1090Scopus (37) Google Scholar and in highlighting the need to include migrants and refugees in national health-care systems. In Latin America, vulnerability in contexts of human mobility does not usually reside in refugee camps. This multidimensional, layered vulnerability is everywhere, dispersed and invisible, because migrants are physically present in communities yet excluded in every other way. Migrants might not be in camps or in detention, but their situation is ever more precarious. They have little access to social protection and health care,2Organización Internacional del TrabajoPresente y futuro de la protección social en América Latina y el Caribe. OIT / Oficina Regional para América Latina y el Caribe, Lima2018Google Scholar, 3Cabieses B Oyarte M Health access to immigrants: identifying gaps for social protection in health.Rev Saude Publica. 2020; 54: 20Google Scholar they are informal workers most likely to suffer abuse from their employers or lose their source of income,4International Labour OrganizationLabour migration in Latin America and the Caribbean. Diagnosis, strategy and ILO's work in the region. ILO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Lima2017Google Scholar they are marginalised and overcrowded in overpopulated urban settings or in rural areas where the virus will inevitably spread, and they are experiencing the many aspects of poverty.5Cabieses B Bernales M McIntyre AMM La migración internacional como determinante social de la salud: miradas y propuestas para políticas públicas. Universidad del Desarrollo, Concepción2017Google Scholar More importantly, migrants experi­encing social vulnerability largely contribute to making lockdowns possible: they are couriers who deliver meals, they are fruit and vegetable pickers, and they are domestic workers. Leaving no one behind means considering the quiet struggle of vulnerable immigrants who make things happen as the rest of the population retreat into their homes, exposing themselves to contagion, usually with no protection and the threat of losing everything if they stop working. Leaving no one behind in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic means that governments and employers alike should take responsibility for immigrants' welfare, through immediate actions and social, public health, and immigration policies in the long term. We declare no competing interests. COVID-19 will not leave behind refugees and migrantsNever has the "leave no one behind" pledge felt more urgent. As nations around the world implement measures to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, including lockdowns and restrictions on individuals' movements, they must heed their global commitments. When member states adopted the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, they promised to ensure no one will be left behind. Chief among the world's most vulnerable people are refugees and migrants. The COVID-19 crisis puts these groups at enormous risk. Full-Text PDF