Migration and Vulnerability During the Pandemic: Barriers to Wellbeing

The COVID-19 pandemic has had –and continues to have– tremendous impact on wellbeing, especially amongst people at risk of vulnerability such as ethnic minorities, homeless people, undocumented migrants and asylum seekers. This report examines the wellbeing of vulnerable migrants in the UK during the early months of the pandemic (March-September 2020). It explores the characteristics of individuals at risk of vulnerability during that period: their health status and their wellbeing needs as well as the healthcare barriers they have experienced. Findings are reported from a mixed methods study which analysed data drawn from Doctors of the World (DOTW) UK service data collected before and during the pandemic. The analysis was undertaken in order to highlight the situation of individuals at risk of vulnerability, especially with regard to their wellbeing, identify barriers and issues that may be linked to vulnerability, and provide potential solutions to deal with such barriers. This work was undertaken as part of the Vulnerable Migrants’ Wellbeing Project funded by the Nuffield Foundation with further funding from the ESRC IAA funds.