COVID-19 and the transformation of migration and mobility globally – Migration and mobility after the 2020 pandemic: The end of an age?

The period since World War II has been characterized by increasingly extensive and complex global population movements. Yet this international mobility has been brought to an almost complete standstill by the COVID-19 pandemic, as states have imposed restrictions on movement in order to slow the spread of the virus. In this paper, Alan Gamlen asks if the COVID-19 pandemic will bring about the end of the “age of migration” and poses ten key questions to guide future migration and mobility research.

This paper is part of a series of short “think pieces” by IOM’s Migration Research and Publishing High-Level Advisers on the potential changes, impacts and implications for migration and mobility arising from COVID-19. Designed to spark thinking on policy and programmatic responses to COVID-19 as its impacts continue to emerge globally, the papers draw upon existing and new evidence and offer initial exploratory analysis and recommendations.