Migrants at the front lines. The effects of COVID-19 measures on migrant workers working in crucial sectors

Migrant workers were performing crucial work in the front line of the COVID-19 crisis. They help produce our food, pack our orders, clean our houses. The protection of these migrant workers requires urgent attention. An team of interdisciplinary researchers at the Radboud University Network on Migrant Inclusion (RUNOMI), together with De Burcht and partners from the field will investigate which structural problems related to labor migration have been exposed by the corona crisis. Also, the opportunities for improving the protection of migrant workers will be investigated. We will look for innovations that make crucial sectors less dependent on vulnerable migrants. Because migrant workers often work and live across borders, this research focuses on the border regions (Netherlands/North Rhine-Westphalia). The research aims to contribute to reducing health risks during the further course of this, and possible future, crises.