In India, due to the widespread confinement due to the Coronavirus pandemic, thousands of migrant workers find themselves stranded on the sites where they came to work, far from their families, their homes and now without any income-generating activity. Aide et Action, which works daily with these populations, has decided to act alongside them.
Before the nationwide declared containment to curb the spread of Coronavirus in India, our volunteers and the animators of our childcare and learning centers conducted awareness programs for migrant workers. These consisted of alerting populations to precautionary measures, respect for social distance, personal hygiene and the maintenance of clean living conditions, etc.
The initiative involved 2,600 migrant workers, 600 children and 50 site owners covering the cities of Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Patna. Parents and children were encouraged to immediately report symptoms such as shortness of breath, cough, colds and fever seen in anyone in the workplace.
Maintain contact
Despite the suspension of our usual activities, our teams continue to contact the communities via mobile phones and even make periodic visits, if necessary, to the workplace to assess the situation and help the children in case of emergency.
Food, vaccination and health care for children and women in the workplace are fortunately taken care of by government agencies, thanks to the bonds of trust that we have forged with them. Our volunteers, who are in the migrant workers’ regions of origin, also monitor their return and register them in local quarantine centers.
Advocacy work in progress
A note on the vulnerabilities of migrant workers in Covid-19 emergencies and possible actions to ensure their safety has been submitted to the Odisha National Disaster Assessment Office (OSDMA).
Aide et Action is also creating a virtual community of 300 volunteers covering 150 villages in 4 districts. Thanks to this platform, accurate and real-time information on the migrant population, the status of migrants after their return and details of their living conditions will be collected, recorded and transmitted to the government administration.