Towards a typology of social protection for migrants and refugees in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic

• DOI: 10.1186/s40878-021-00265-x
• Publication Date: 2021-11-16T00:02:52Z
• Authors: Marcia Vera Espinoza; Victoria Prieto R...; Gisela P. Zapata; Luciana Gandini; Alethia Fernández...; Gioconda Herrera; Stephanie López V...; Cristina María Za...; Cécile Blouin; Camila Montiel; Gabriela Cabezas ...; Irene Palla
• Keywords: Health Effects of Precarious Employment and Unemployment; Economics; FOS: Political science; Health Professions; Social Sciences; Vulnerability (computing); Sociology; Computer security; State (computer science); Psychology; 10. No inequality; Political science; Civil society; Migration governance; HT201-221; Inclusion; Development economics; 2. Zero hunger; Refugees; Politics; 05 social sciences; 1. No poverty; Migration Governance; Exclusion; Forced migration; 16. Peace & justice; Migration Policy; Latin Americans; FOS: Sociology; 0506 political science; 3. Good health; FOS: Psychology; Algorithm; Clinical Psychology; HT51-1595; Impact of International Migration on Public Health; Health; General Health Professions; 8. Economic growth; Original Article; Covid-19; Mental Health of Refugees and Immigrants; Refugee; FOS: Law; Communities. Classes. Races; Migrants; H; Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology; Health Sciences; Post-Migration Stress; Economic growth; Social Protection; HT101-395; City population. Including children in cities, immigration; Computer science; 300; Social protection; Typology; Latin America; Anthropology; Law

AbstractThe COVID-19 health crisis has put to the test Latin America’s already precarious social protection systems. This paper comparatively examines what type of social protection has been provided, by whom, and to what extent migrant and refugee populations have been included in these programmes in seven countries of the region during the COVID-19 pandemic, between March and December 2020. We develop a typology of models of social protection highlighting the assemblages of actors, different modes of protection and the emerging migrants’ subjectification in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay in relation to Non-Contributory Social Transfer (NCST) programmes and other actions undertaken by state and non-state actors. The analysis is based on 85 semi-structured interviews with representatives of national and local governments, International Organisations, Civil Society Organisations, and migrant-led organisations across 16 cities, and a systematic review of regulatory frameworks in the country-case studies. The proposed typology shows broad heterogeneity and complexity regarding different degrees of inclusion of migrant and refugee populations, particularly in pre-existing and new NCST programmes. These actions are furthering notions of migrant protection that are contingent and crisis-driven, imposing temporal limitations that often selectively exclude migrants based on legal status. It also brings to the fore the path-dependent nature of policies and practices of exclusion/inclusion in the region, which impact on migrants’ effective access to social and economic rights, while shaping the broader dynamics of migration governance in the region.