2021 Global Shifts Colloquium Report and Thought Pieces

For more than a year, governments around the world have sought to halt the spread of COVID-19 by constraining human movement. A new report and thought pieces from our recent colloquium, Locked Down: Global Mobility and COVID-19, examine the global impact of these travel bans.

Colloquium Report

The global shutdown that began in March 2020 was perhaps the most dramatic reduction in human mobility in modern history. This year's Global Shifts Colloquium, which took place on March 23-24 and 26, 2021, virtually convened academic and policy experts from across the world to examine these border closures and other mobility restrictions.

They explored how these policies impacted those trapped within and beyond borders by these restrictions; and how governments, industries, and NGOs can work together to mitigate the harm done to disadvantaged communities, both during this pandemic and during future ones. Our new report distills these conversations into policy recommendations to help governments and other actors respond more effectively to future crises.

Click here to read the report.

Thought Pieces

The scholars and policy practitioners who attended the Colloquium have also produced a series of thought pieces exploring critical issues surrounding this topic. 

Border Closing and Reopening: National and Regional Policies

The Effectiveness of International Travel Measures: What Have We Learned During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic? by Karen A. Grépin

Life in the Time of COVID: Planning for Non-Adherence by Tana Johnson (published by Duck of Minerva)

Migrant Workers, the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the Prospects for Human Mobility in the Post-COVID Recovery Period by Claire Kumar

Recovering Industries: Global Tourism and Transportation

A Sustainable, Equitable, Multimodal Return to Global Air Transportation Post-COVID-19 by Megan Ryerson

Recovering Tourism through Improved Risk Management Skill Development by Erinn D. Tucker

The Corona Crisis: An Opportunity for Sustainable Tourism by Naciye Güliz Uğur

Moving for Work: Migrant Workers and International Labor

Immigrant Workers and the COVID-19 Pandemic by Francesco Fasani

When the Pandemic Hit, Were Migrant Workers Left Out in the Cold? by Michelle Leighton

Building Resilient Migration Systems by Rebekah Smith

Struggling against COVID-19 and Suffering from Despair: Time for Inclusive Protection of Migrant Workers by Huso Yi

Searching for Safety: Refugees and Asylum Seekers

COVID-19 and the Protection of Refugees and Asylum Seekers by T. Alexander Aleinikoff

Silently Locked Out: COVID-19 Responses for Refugees and Migrants in Africa by Amanda Coffie

The COVID-19 Pandemic and State Responses to Asylum Seekers by Rebecca Hamlin

Public Health and COVID-19 in Latin America: Protecting Migrants and Refugees by Andrés Felipe Cubillos-Novella, Báltica Cabieses, Michael Knipper, Ana Cristina Sedas