Migration and COVID-19 in context: labor migration in Ethiopia and its implications for policy responses
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected global mobility since its outbreak in early 2020. It has taken the lives of millions and led to wholesale changes at all levels in the way people interact, move and work. By mid-March 2022, at least 476 million people had contracted the infection, and some six million died from COVID-19 (WHO 2022). Among those most affected by the pandemic have been migrants, often from communities that were already vulnerable due to having limited economic, social and other resources at their disposal to be able to establish resilience and overcome shocks to household livelihoods. This brief examines the effects of COVID-19 on labor migration in Ethiopia as well as the government’s responses to these effects and their implications.
