COVID-19 in India: Who are we leaving behind?

This report discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has uncovered and intensified existing societal inequalities. People on the move and residents of urban slums and informal settlements are among some of the most affected groups in the Global South. Given the current living conditions of migrants, the WHO guidelines on how to prevent COVID-19 (such as handwashing, physical distancing and working from home) are challenging to nearly impossible in informal settlements. The report uses the case of India to highlight the challenges of migrants and urban slum dwellers during the COVID-19 response and to provide human rights-based recommendations for immediate action to safeguard these vulnerable populations.

The COVID-19 developments in India delicately illustrate how the protection of migrants and other ultra-vulnerable urban populations have fallen between two stools. The authors believe that the lockdown should have been planned carefully and communicated more effectively in order to avoid unnecessary psychological stress and traumatic experiences. ‘Building back better’ will require all national governments to support their citizens in the best way possible, and especially those people squeezed into fragile and cramped urban areas while lacking access to water, sanitation and healthcare services. The authors conclude that the response to the pandemic must include access to health and welfare measures for all – not further the stress for those already vulnerable.