The Next Wave - After Covid-19 is Gone

We've heard plenty about a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, perhaps even a third wave. Some suggest that the nature of how the virus spread globally and how easily humans transport it from one continent to another means there won't be distinct waves. It will blur into one regenerating wave. At least we seem to be learning, thank you America, that lockdowns work until they're lifted in haste and when they are recklessly lifted all the sacrifice and expense of 'flattening the curve' can be squandered in short order, putting society back to square one.

But this isn't about pandemic waves. The other "next wave" may be a wave in mass migration after the pandemic passes. The Red Cross contends that many in the hardest hit and most vulnerable nations have had enough. Places where people have had to endure the stark choice of exposing themselves to infection or watching their families starve. These people want out.

The head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Jagan Chapagain, said he was deeply concerned about the secondary effects of the pandemic, as border closures and Covid-19 restrictions have driven millions into poverty. 

“Increasingly we are seeing in many countries the impacts on the livelihoods and the food situation,” he said in an interview with Agence France-Presse. 

Many people are already faced with the choice of risking exposure to the novel coronavirus or going hungry, Chapagain said, warning that the desperation being generated could have far-reaching consequences.

“What we hear is that many people who are losing livelihoods, once the borders start opening, will feel compelled to move,” he said. “We should not be surprised if there is a massive impact on migration in the coming months and years.”

Our best option - help these people be safe and secure in their homelands.

Chapagain called for immediate support to relieve people’s desperation and warned that increased migration would result in numerous “tragedies along the way”, including deaths at sea, human trafficking and exploitation. 

“The cost of supporting the migrants, during the transit and of course when they reach the country of destination, is much more than supporting people in their livelihoods, education, health needs in their own country,” he said.