Restricting Human Movement During the COVID-19 Pandemic: New Research Avenues in the Study of Mobility, Migration, and Citizenship.

Every government in the world introduced restrictions to human mobility - that is, the movement of persons across and within state borders - in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Such restrictions thus constituted a global phenomenon, but they were by no means globally uniform; rather, they varied significantly between and within states, as well as over time. This research note presents different data sources for studying the drivers and outcomes of mobility restrictions, highlighting specific ways in which the data can be used.

A global network of scholars? The geographical concentration of institutes in migration studies and its implications.

The study of international migration and responses to it has experienced rapid growth in the last three decades: an institutionalisation of migration studies. This paper identifies and specifies and elements of institutionalisation by establishing a global Directory of Migration Research Institutions identifying 282 institutes focused on migration research that were operative between 1945 and 2020. We observe a clear geographical concentration in the Americas and Europe and find that most institutes are in countries with higher economic development (GDP) and net immigration (not emigration).

COVID-19-Related Health Literacy of Socioeconomically Vulnerable Migrant Groups.

Understand the COVID-19-related health literacy of socioeconomically vulnerable migrant groups. We conducted a survey available in 8 languages among 2,354 members of the target population in Switzerland in 2020. We measured health literacy in four dimensions (finding, understanding, evaluating and applying health information) and assessed adherence to official recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Citizenship, Migration and Mobility in a Pandemic (CMMP): A global dataset of COVID-19 restrictions on human movement.

This research note introduces a new global dataset, the Citizenship, Migration and Mobility in a Pandemic (CMMP). The dataset features systematic information on border closures and domestic lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in 211 countries and territories worldwide from 1 March to 1 June 2020. It documents the evolution of the types and scope of international travel bans and exceptions to them, as well as internal measures including limitations of non-essential movement and curfews in 27 countries.