REPORT: COVID-19 Impact Assessment Framework

Risks and Responses for People in the UK Immigration System

Migration Exchange, May 2020.

Migration Exchange

The impacts of COVID-19 in the UK on some groups of people who are subject to immigration control are likely to be significantly different and extremely serious, because they are already subject to disproportionate levels of poverty and inequality, exclusion from health, housing and benefits and other mainstream services. Some are forced by state policy to rely on charities for daily survival means. They are inhibited by the state from following public health and government advice, so less able to stay safe and contribute to societal attempts to reduce the spread of the virus.

There are existing structural concerns in the UK immigration system that makes an inclusive response to COVID-19 challenging.

This project combines public health expertise and migration data to establish a framework for understanding the risks and impact of the COVID-19 on people in different parts of the immigration and asylum system in the UK.

We hope that the output of this project is a useful baseline to inform the responses of independent funders, as well as the strategies and planning of organisations working in the migration and refugee sector. This includes engagement with statutory bodies, influencing asks, and wider communication strategies.