54 / 2021

Nicola Costalunga

Entry Denied: Japan’s Border Restrictions in the Time of the COVID-19 Emergency

Z izbruhom virusa SARS-CoV-2 in posledično pandemije Covida-19 je Japonska za zajezitev virusa sprejela sporne ukrepe. V nasprotju s številnimi visoko razvitimi državami je vsem nejaponskim državljanom, ne glede na njihov bivalni status, strogo prepovedala prehajanje meja. Ti ukrepi so enako prizadeli tako visoko- kot nizkokvalificirane tuje delavce. Članek obravnava izvajanje izrednih ukrepov v povezavi s tujci, hkrati pa pojasnjuje razvoj že obstoječe sociokulturne dinamike razlikovanja med »našimi« in »vašimi« ob soočenju s pandemijo.
KLJUČNE BESEDE: Japonska, meje, migracijske politike, Covid-19, zavrnitev vstopa

54 / 2021

Nicola Costalunga

Entry Denied: Japan’s Border Restrictions in the Time of the COVID-19 Emergency

Z izbruhom virusa SARS-CoV-2 in posledično pandemije Covida-19 je Japonska za zajezitev virusa sprejela sporne ukrepe. V nasprotju s številnimi visoko razvitimi državami je vsem nejaponskim državljanom, ne glede na njihov bivalni status, strogo prepovedala prehajanje meja. Ti ukrepi so enako prizadeli tako visoko- kot nizkokvalificirane tuje delavce. Članek obravnava izvajanje izrednih ukrepov v povezavi s tujci, hkrati pa pojasnjuje razvoj že obstoječe sociokulturne dinamike razlikovanja med »našimi« in »vašimi« ob soočenju s pandemijo.
KLJUČNE BESEDE: Japonska, meje, migracijske politike, Covid-19, zavrnitev vstopa

54 / 2021

Mohammad Riduan Parvez

Social Stigma and COVID-19: The Experiences of Bangladeshi Returnees from Italy

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has escalated social discrimination against migrants around the world. However, research on the forms of social stigma faced by the returned migrants in their home countries is absent. Based on in-depth interviews with Bangladeshi migrants who returned from Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic, this article explores their experiences of discrimination and social harassment in Bangladesh. Drawing on Link’s and Phelan’s (2001) conceptual framework of social stigma, this study finds that returned migrants experienced different forms of social harassment and stigmatization, including labeling, stereotyping, social separation, status loss, and discrimination.
KEYWORDS: returned migrants, social stigma, COVID-19, Bangladesh, Italy

54 / 2021

Mohammad Riduan Parvez

Social Stigma and COVID-19: The Experiences of Bangladeshi Returnees from Italy

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has escalated social discrimination against migrants around the world. However, research on the forms of social stigma faced by the returned migrants in their home countries is absent. Based on in-depth interviews with Bangladeshi migrants who returned from Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic, this article explores their experiences of discrimination and social harassment in Bangladesh. Drawing on Link’s and Phelan’s (2001) conceptual framework of social stigma, this study finds that returned migrants experienced different forms of social harassment and stigmatization, including labeling, stereotyping, social separation, status loss, and discrimination.
KEYWORDS: returned migrants, social stigma, COVID-19, Bangladesh, Italy

54 / 2021

Yasmin Saikia

The Muslim Precariat of Assam: Contagion, Migrants, and COVID-19

This article examines the plight of migrant Muslim garbage pickers during the COVID-19 lockdown in India and their struggles to return home to Assam. Their financial hardships were exacerbated by social, political, and religious prejudices. Belonging to the Bengali-speaking miya community, deemed “Bangladeshi,” government authorities neglected them. The lockdown’s hyped-up anti-Muslim propaganda also reduced them to “corona jihadis.” The author reads their struggles as a case study of the Muslim condition in India and argues for civic engagement for redressing the condition of the marginal and vulnerable. The research was conducted through telephone and Zoom calls and in-person interviews. 
KEYWORDS: Assam migrants, COVID-19, lockdown, miyas, Muslim precariat, India

54 / 2021

Yasmin Saikia

The Muslim Precariat of Assam: Contagion, Migrants, and COVID-19

This article examines the plight of migrant Muslim garbage pickers during the COVID-19 lockdown in India and their struggles to return home to Assam. Their financial hardships were exacerbated by social, political, and religious prejudices. Belonging to the Bengali-speaking miya community, deemed “Bangladeshi,” government authorities neglected them. The lockdown’s hyped-up anti-Muslim propaganda also reduced them to “corona jihadis.” The author reads their struggles as a case study of the Muslim condition in India and argues for civic engagement for redressing the condition of the marginal and vulnerable. The research was conducted through telephone and Zoom calls and in-person interviews. 
KEYWORDS: Assam migrants, COVID-19, lockdown, miyas, Muslim precariat, India

54 / 2021

Arun Kumar Acharya, Sanjib Patel

Vulnerabilities of Internal Returnee Migrants in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic in India

The study surveyed 227 returned labor migrants in four districts of western Odisha to comprehensively analyze the socio-economic vulnerabilities faced by internal returnee labor migrants caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The results show that the partial and complete lockdown caused factory and workplace closures in the entire country. Consequently, millions of migrants suffered a loss of income and faced an uncertain future which motivated migrant workers to return to their home villages. Upon arrival, they met socio-economic vulnerabilities, encountered social and economic discrimination, and were excluded by their family members and fellow villagers, which impacted their behavioral health. 
KEYWORDS: internal returnee labor migrants, COVID-19, vulnerabilities, India

54 / 2021

Arun Kumar Acharya, Sanjib Patel

Vulnerabilities of Internal Returnee Migrants in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic in India

The study surveyed 227 returned labor migrants in four districts of western Odisha to comprehensively analyze the socio-economic vulnerabilities faced by internal returnee labor migrants caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The results show that the partial and complete lockdown caused factory and workplace closures in the entire country. Consequently, millions of migrants suffered a loss of income and faced an uncertain future which motivated migrant workers to return to their home villages. Upon arrival, they met socio-economic vulnerabilities, encountered social and economic discrimination, and were excluded by their family members and fellow villagers, which impacted their behavioral health. 
KEYWORDS: internal returnee labor migrants, COVID-19, vulnerabilities, India

54 / 2021

Fabio Perocco

The Coronavirus Crisis and Migration: The Pan-Syndemic and Its Impact on Migrants

The coronavirus crisis exposed and exacerbated inequalities that already existed. Simultaneously, it has transformed inequalities, changing old ones, generating new ones, intertwining the old and the new. A test of these processes, in particular, of the differentiated impact of the health crisis, may be observed in migration. After examining the ecological-social origins of the novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 related racial health inequalities, the article analyzes the consequences of the pandemic on the health and working conditions of immigrant workers, asylum seekers, emigrants in travel. It highlights the syndemic situation affecting them.
KEYWORDS: coronavirus, inequalities, migration, pandemic, syndemics

54 / 2021

Fabio Perocco

The Coronavirus Crisis and Migration: The Pan-Syndemic and Its Impact on Migrants

The coronavirus crisis exposed and exacerbated inequalities that already existed. Simultaneously, it has transformed inequalities, changing old ones, generating new ones, intertwining the old and the new. A test of these processes, in particular, of the differentiated impact of the health crisis, may be observed in migration. After examining the ecological-social origins of the novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 related racial health inequalities, the article analyzes the consequences of the pandemic on the health and working conditions of immigrant workers, asylum seekers, emigrants in travel. It highlights the syndemic situation affecting them.
KEYWORDS: coronavirus, inequalities, migration, pandemic, syndemics