Tens of thousands of migrants have been stranded all over the SEEECA region due to restrictions imposed in the wake of COVID-19. IOM is helping them to get home. 

As lock-down restrictions ease in the world’s largest refugee-hosting country, hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants continue face elevated levels of risk. Many are trying to return to work but can’t afford basic personal protective equipment (PPE) or pay for medical services should they fall ill. 

From today and every day, 1,500 foreigners and Belarusian citizens will receive up-to-date information on COVID-19 prevention measures at the when they enter Belarus, thanks to a new initiative funded by the EU and the IOM Development Fund.

The COVID-19 pandemic has left millions of international labour migrants in the Russian Federaiton stranded or facing uncertain futures. A new Presidential Decree to regulate the legal status of foreign nationals for an interim period of three months has been warmly welcomed by IOM as it means that migrants will not have to pay fees for permits, allowing them to find jobs more quickly and to retain their legal status. 

The tiny Eastern European country of Moldova is bracing itself for a large return of overseas migrant workers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Almost one million of the country’s 3.5 million citizens reside abroad, and the remittances they send home accounts for roughly 16 per cent of the country’s GDP, or around  US$ 1.2 billion a year.