Pervasive challenges remain for hundreds-of-thousands of migrant workers in India whose lives were upended by the sudden lockdown across the country, in response to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, said the UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Thursday.
High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said in a statement that she was distressed by the plight of the informal migrant workers affected, many of whom were, in effect, forced to leave the cities where they worked at just a few hours’ notice, unable to pay for rent or food.
The lockdown in India represents a massive logistical and implementation challenge given the population size and its density and we all hope the spread of the virus can be checked, said UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet.
And while welcoming steps to address the deadly crisis, she noted the importance of ensuring that measures responding to COVID-19 are neither applied in a discriminatory manner nor exacerbate existing inequalities and vulnerabilities.
Lacking jobs and money, and with public transportation shut down, hundreds of thousands of migrants who have no job security or protection, were forced to trek often hundreds of miles back to their home villages with some dying on the journey, noted OHCHR.
The High Commissioner welcomed the instruction of India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday stating that the migrants be treated in a humane manner, including by providing them with enough food, water, beds and supplies as well as psychosocial counselling in shelters that are run by volunteers and not security forces.
Containing COVID-19 in the country that hosts one-sixth of the world’s population will require efforts not only by the Government, but also the population at large.
The High Commissioner encouraged the Government to work shoulder-to-shoulder with civil society on the response, including the many non-governmental organizations already providing relief.
This is a time for domestic solidarity and unity. I encourage the Government to draw on India’s vibrant civil society to reach out to the most vulnerable sectors of society, to ensure no one is left behind in this time of crisis, concluded the High Commissioner.
United Nations