COVID Migrant Monitor Project Report
Building cooperation and solidarity in the midst of pandemic crisis
[Part 2: Information dissemination campaign]

“…for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?”

Matthew 25:35-38

The COVID Migrant Monitor project is an initiative of the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) to respond to the situation of migrants in the region during the pandemic. It consists of three major components: 1. Delivery of services immediately needed by migrants including food relief, communication assistance, counselling to navigate changing immigration and labor policies, and referral services; 2. Advocacy and campaigns to counter the invisibility of migrants, influence policies to make them positive to the rights of migrants, and challenge policies and programs that are detrimental to the rights of migrants; and, 3. Information dissemination activities that relay important news to migrants such as country restrictions, policies under the pandemic that impact on migrants, community services available, and advocacy and campaign work on the ground.

APMM collaborated with members of the Interfaith Network for the Rights of Migrants or INFORM and the International Migrants Alliance (IMA), as well as our partner organizations in Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia and Japan, to implement the project. 

The APMM, in close coordination with its partners in said countries and interfaith network, reached out to the broadest number of migrants, conducted campaign, advocacy and lobbying, delivered welfare services and assistance, and spoke on various issues that put migrants in a most vulnerable situation.

The COVID Migrant Monitor as a collaborative project helped in strengthening solidarity and partnership among migrants and their families, serving institutions and faith communities in the region. Together with grassroots migrants at the forefront, it provided venues to articulate their issues and show how migrants and their families lost their jobs and source of income, excluded and discriminated. As one foreign domestic worker in Hong Kong said: If not for the APMM and the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-Migrante-Hong Kong) I will not survive the 14-day quarantine. For the entire 14 days of my quarantine, my employer paid for the cheapest quarantine hotel and only gave me 14 packs of cup noodles and 14 bottles of 380ml water.

The cooperation conducted and partnership formed opened new opportunities for continuing advocacy, campaign and lobbying including the upcoming Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) review process. It is hoped that this can be further developed to provide more venues for grassroots migrants to advance their agenda in a post-pandemic situation where migrants, refugees and uprooted people are included, treated justly and humanely.

Close coordination with APMM partners in the targeted countries as well as in other areas in the region helped in the smooth implementation of the project. Getting our partners involved in the planning, monitoring and execution of the different components of the project made them embrace its objectives and ensure its success.

2. Information dissemination campaign

Vital in the implementation of the project is providing up-to-date information on the COVID-19 pandemic crisis to migrants and their families especially information regarding mobility restrictions, visa rules, health services and community support. Updated information, data gathering and analysis on various impact of the pandemic to particular sectors (undocumented migrants, migrant domestic workers, seafarers, refugees etc.) were constantly monitored, shared and posted via email, social media and website. Information were gathered from established news agencies, migrant serving institutions, various migrant organizations as well as international institutions and government agencies within and outside of Asia Pacific and Middle East regions.

a. COVID Migrant Monitor Website. Created as a platform for information dissemination, COVID Migrant Monitor was updated regularly. The website provided timely information on the latest travel advisory of countries in Asia Pacific and Middle East, as well as government responses to COVID pandemic. The full survey results in targeted countries, relief and aid provisions by migrant organizations and service providers, and other important updates on the pandemic were posted in the website https://covid19.apmigrants.org. A special feature of the website is the video advocacy on the impact of COVID-19 to foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A15oP6TKGg&feature=youtu.be) and the video advocacy WHAT MIGRANTS WANT: Issues and demands of migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic (http://apmigrants.org/index.php/wwh-4/statements/221-video-what-migrants-want) 

Position papers of APMM and its allied organization and partners were posted in the said website like the APMM analysis on the impact of COVID to migrants entitled In Defense of Migrants’ Rights to Health, Livelihood and Life Amidst the COVID-19 Crisis (http://apmigrants.org/index.php/wwh-4/statements/202-in-defense-of-migrants-during-covid). The said position paper was shared globally and used by grassroots migrant organizations, serving institutions and faith communities for their continuing advocacy and lobbying work.

b. COVID Migrant Monitor Facebook Page. The lack of mobility for the past 8 months necessitated a Facebook page as a source of information and space for quick sharing of updates in various countries. Presently, the COVID Migrant Monitor Facebook continues to provided updated information such as news articles, reports and other information about COVID-19 and migration for migrants and their families and advocates.

Moreover, the COVID Migrant Monitor Facebook Page also served as venue for online counselling for migrants in distress. Migrants in distress reached out to APMM and its partners via Facebook messenger and asked for help and assistance. At present, the APMM and its partners in Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Australia and the Philippines are engaged in online counselling. The APMM as requested by its partners in the region to provide help in terms of sustained internet connection.

The COVID Migrant Monitor Facebook page can be accessed here: https://www.facebook.com/covid19migrantAP.