Migration, Health and Development in India, South Asia and China: Perspectives in the COVID-19 Era

Abstract

This chapter revisits the relationship between migration, health and development in the context of Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) objectives interrupted by the external shock of the COVID-19 pandemic. By using recent and emerging data from global sources like the United Nations (UN), World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank, it looks at health indicators, migration stocks and economic development parameters in select South Asian countries, including India, over the last three decades—1990–2020. These are compared against both the world totals and those for China—the East Asian country at the epicentre of COVID-19. The chapter provides background on comparative indicators of economic development in India, other major South Asian countries and China, and critically examines three issues: (a) lessons from the challenges COVID-19 posed to the GCM objective of making migration ‘safe, orderly and regular’ (SOR); (b) indicators of the relationship between migration, health and development in the context of the GCM and COVID-19; and (c) challenges emerging from the dynamic relationship between migration, health and development in the COVID-19 era.