GRFDT

Migrants and Displaced Persons Amid COVID 19: Issues, Challenges and Policy Options

In Collaboration with

Centre for Indian Diaspora Studies (CIDS) in collaboration with Department of Social Sciences, FLAME University, Pune & Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism (GRFDT), New Delhi

Human mobility has been an integral part of studies on migration and international relations. A multitude of factors and forces have contributed to the changing dynamics of human mobility throughout history. Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented challenges to human mobility with its attendant consequences for the lives of migrants across the world. Pandemic and similar emergencies continue to impact on the life and livelihood of people in general. However, its impact on the vulnerable sections of the population such as migrant communities—composed of internal migrants, international migrants as well as displaced people (IDPs), asylum seekers and refugees—is often difficult to estimate. Lockdown, closing of borders, restrictions on travel, social distancing, quarantine, community containment etc. are being imposed by governments across the world as necessary measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic. Inevitably, socio-political and economic activities came to a near standstill all over the world. As a result, human mobility, in general, and the status of the migrant community, in particular, have been severely affected even as labour migration has been temporarily halted globally. In contrast, displaced people faced difficulties due to the lack of assistance (or a slowdown in the process of assistance) from the responsible agencies and they have been facing tremendous difficulties even to procure medical care and other emergency needs. The social, economic and psychological impacts of the crisis, with the onset of the COVID‐19, are challenging and long lasting. For the migrants the crisis is multi-level having impacts on both the home and destination countries. India is a glaring example in this regard as the country has brought forth the highest number of migrants in the world with the largest amount of remittances. India is an important country of origin of international migrants apart from massive internal population movement. Similarly, India hosts several refugee communities–Tibetans, Sri Lankan Tamils, Rohingyas, and so on. Evidently, the plight of migrants, both voluntary and forced, and the adverse effects induced by the pandemic deserve special attention in this critical moment. The International Webinar covers the following themes related to human mobility and migrant communities amid COVID- 19 pandemic in three thematic sections; 1) COVID- 19 and Internal migration, 2) COVID- 19 and International labour migration, and 3) COVID- 19 and forced migration. The insights and observations generated from the webinar will be useful inputs for policy-making, academia and the civil society. The Webinar seeks to delve into the pandemic-induced impact on human mobility and the plight of migrants from a multidisciplinary perspective. All papers accepted for the international webinar will be published in a book bearing ISBN Number

Last Date for Submission of Abstract: 4th October, 2020

Intimation on Selection of the Abstract: 8th October, 2020

Deadline for Full Paper Draft Submission: 14th October, 2020

Date of the event: 15-17 October 2020

For Registration/ Submission of Abstract: https://forms.gle/srhuGofvRgSd8dJy6

To join WhatsApp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/C2Bo7qInZ Gi81KFTVhijxg

For citation and references: https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/apaqui ckguide/intext

Subthemes:

State and migrant communities ➢ Economic, political and policy dimensions ➢ International and national policy deficits ➢ Question of portability of rights ➢ Housing and workplace conditions ➢ Impact of travel restrictions ➢ Challenges facing migrant and displaced women amid COVID- 19 ➢ Challenges facing migrant and displaced children amid COVID- 19 ➢ Issues of access to health care and relief ➢ Disruption of migration and refugee services ➢ Crisis in migration and refugee management ➢ Psychosocial impact of COVID- 19 on migrant communities ➢ Return and reverse migration ➢ Protests and resistance ➢ Civil society interventions ➢ Role of international organisations

Guidelines for Abstract Submission Guidelines for Full Paper Submission

➢ The abstract submission deadline is on or before 4th of October 2020.

➢ Abstract must NOT exceed 350 words, including title and key words. If your abstract crosses the word limit you will fail to upload it on the given Google form.

➢ Ensure that your abstract contains a brief title, author(s) name and affiliation(s).

➢ The presenting author must be listed as the first author in case of collaborative paper

➢ Keywords must be separated by commas.

➢ Please avoid diagrams, illustrations, tables, references or graphs in the abstract.

➢ Abstracts must be typed in MS-Word in Times New Roman with font size 12 and 1.5 spacing.

➢ Please choose one of the thematic areas mentioned in the call for paper or topics that are related to the main theme of the webinar. Abstracts that are not in line with the webinar themes will be summarily rejected.

➢ All abstracts will be peer reviewed before final acceptance and communication regarding the acceptance/rejection of your abstract will be sent by email.

➢ Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to present their paper at the webinar hosted on an online platform (G-Meet or Zoom).

➢ The schedule and the details of Keynote and Special Addresses will be shared in the WhatsApp group

➢ Abstracts must be submitted via the given link of registration https://forms.gle/srhuGofvRgSd8dJy6. Make sure to click on upload and submit after attaching the abstract.

➢ There is no registration fee.

➢ Before submitting your paper, please follow the following guidelines. Papers not meeting these requirements will be either send back for revision or summarily rejected.

➢ The full paper must be written in good English suitable for publication

➢ The word limit of the full paper is 8000 words, including footnotes and references.

➢ It is your responsibility to ensure that all citations and references are accurate, and that the paper does not infringe any copyright.

➢ We request the authors to follow APA 7th edition style for citation and reference. Please click the link https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/apaquickgui de/intext for more details and clarity about APA style.

➢ Full paper must be typed in MS-Word in Times New Roman with font size 12 and 1.5 line spacing.

➢ All pages of the manuscript should be numbered.

➢ All submissions must include a Title, Author/s name/s and affiliations.

➢ Deadline for full paper draft submission is on or before 14th of October 2020

Time and Place: