Migrant Remittances and Covid-19: Practices of Care during Crisis

据预测，2019冠状病毒病将使1000亿美元的汇款流消失，这将是自1980年开始追踪以来最大幅度的收缩（世界银行，2020年）。这种下降是由于派遣社区能力下降造成的，与此同时，随着疫情在许多接收社区蔓延，需求不断增加。鉴于其庞大的移民人口，英国是汇款流动的重要发源地（Migration Observatory, 2020）。英国政府对这一汇款紧急情况的反应与全球“保持汇款流动”的努力一致（英国国际发展部，2020年）。这固然重要，但也提出了一些重大问题，即政策能够在多大程度上支持汇款的复原力并应对这一前所未有的挑战。本项目将汇款作为关怀实践，重点关注伦敦、卡迪夫和格拉斯哥的索马里、巴西和印度移民，解决了三个空白。首先，报告考察了为应对Covid-19而发生的汇款性质、模式和方向的变化，追踪了疫情对移民劳动力市场经历、BAME移民对病毒的脆弱性以及跨国家庭需求的影响。其次，它通过探索汇款中断对移民（而不是接收方）福祉的影响，纠正了汇款研究中的偏见。第三，调查了Covid-19对移民获得汇款服务的影响，以及金融服务数字化程度提高的影响。采用数字方法与二次分析相结合的混合方法，项目的研究结果将立即与跨hmg保护汇款走廊的工作以及与移民人口合作的政府和非政府组织利益相关者相关。

It is predicted that Covid-19 will wipe out US$100 billion in remittance flows, constituting the sharpest contraction since tracking began in 1980 (World Bank, 2020). This decline, driven by reduced capacities among sending communities, is coinciding with escalating need as the pandemic takes hold in many receiving communities. Given its sizeable migrant population, the UK is a significant originator of remittance flows (Migration Observatory, 2020). The British government's response to this remittance emergency aligns with global efforts to 'keep remittances moving' (DFID, 2020). While important, this raises significant questions about the extent to which policy is able to support the resilience of remittances and respond to this unprecedented challenge. Situating remittances as practices of care, and focusing on Somali, Brazilian and Indian migrants in London, Cardiff and Glasgow, this project addresses three lacunae. First, it examines shifts in the nature, patterns and direction of remittance sending in response to Covid-19, tracking the impact of the pandemic on migrants' labour market experiences, BAME migrants' vulnerability to the virus and the needs of transnational families. Second, it redresses a bias in remittance studies by exploring the implications of disrupted remittance flows on migrant (as opposed to recipient) wellbeing. Third, it investigates how migrants' access to remittance services has been affected by Covid-19, and the impacts of increased digitisation of financial services. Deploying mixed methods combining digital methods with secondary analysis, the project's findings will be immediately relevant to cross-HMG work on protecting remittance corridors, and government and NGO stakeholders working with migrant populations.