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COVID-19 pandemic is worsening the plight of millions of migrants, finds UN study
The global COVID-19 pandemic is making life much harder for millions of migrants and is expected to increase their number, two United Nations agencies said in a report published jointly on Tuesday.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has driven up food insecurity and increased vulnerability - among migrants, families reliant on remittances, and communities forced from their homes by conflict, violence and disasters. In a report released today, the International Organization for Migration and the World Food Programme warn the social and economic toll of the pandemic could be devastating on the lives of millions”, IOM spokesperson Angela Wells told a regular briefing of journalists in Geneva.
“The impact COVID-19 has had on the ways people move is unprecedented and issues of food and security have been closely interlinked. We are particularly concerned about the reality facing the more than 2.75 million migrants stranded on their journeys around the world. Many are now unable to return to their places of work, their communities, or their countries of origin. Stranded in precarious situations, many are reliant on humanitarian agencies for food support.”
Hunger and forced migration go together, she said, with nine out of the 10 worst food crises occurring in countries which also had the largest numbers of internally displaced persons. Obstacles to migration would only make things harder.
“More than 94,000 travel restrictions in over 220 countries, territories or areas, put in place to contain the spread of the disease, have limited opportunities for people to move, work and afford food and other basic needs. Without sustained income, the report warns that many will be pushed to return home, which will cause a significant drop in remittances, which we estimate provide an essential lifeline for around 800 million, or one in nine people in the world”, Ms. Wells said.
WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri said the pandemic had hit after four consecutive years of rising hunger, caused by conflict, climate-related shocks and economic crisis.
“Now, the World Food Programme projects that the number of acutely food insecure people in 79 countries where we operate and where this analysis was done could increase by 80% from 149 million before COVID-19 hit to about 270 million by the end of this year, 2020”, Mr. Phiri said.
“Nearly 3 million migrants have been stranded by coronavirus travel restrictions, unable to travel back either to communities, unable to travel back to their places of work.”
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a cloudy day.
- Wide shot, podium with speakers in a near-empty Room XIV in line with COVID-19 distancing measures, side shot, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Angela Wells, spokesperson, International Organization for Migration (IOM): “The COVID-19 pandemic has driven up food insecurity and increased vulnerability - among migrants, families reliant on remittances, and communities forced from their homes by conflict, violence and disasters. In a report released today, the International Organization for Migration and the World Food Programme warn the social and economic toll of the pandemic could be devastating on the lives of millions.”
- Medium shot, journalist sitting, wearing mask, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Angela Wells, spokesperson, International Organization for Migration (IOM): “The impact COVID-19 has had on the ways people move is unprecedented and issues of food and security have been closely interlinked. We are particularly, we are particularly concerned about the reality facing the more than 2.75 million migrants stranded on their journeys around the world. Many are now unable to return to their places of work, their communities, or their countries of origin. Stranded in precarious situations, many are reliant on humanitarian agencies for food support.”
- Medium shot, UN Staff member sitting in front of laptop, low-angle shot, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Angela Wells, spokesperson, International Organization for Migration (IOM): “More than 94,000 travel restrictions in over 220 countries, territories or areas, put in place to contain the spread of the disease have limited opportunities for people to move, work and afford food and other basic needs. Without sustained income the report warns that many will be pushed to return home, which will cause a significant drop in remittances, which we estimate provide an essential lifeline for around 800 million, or one in nine people in the world.”
- Close-up, Tomson Phiri talking, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, spokesperson, World Food Programme (WFP): “The World Food Programme projects that the number of acutely food insecure people in 79 countries where we operate and where this analysis was done could increase by 80 per cent from 149 million before COVID-19 hit to about 270 million by the end of this year, 2020.”
- Wide shot, near-empty Room XIV in line with COVID-19 distancing measures, side shot, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, spokesperson, World Food Programme (WFP): “Nearly 3 million migrants have been stranded by coronavirus travel restrictions, unable to travel back either to communities, unable to travel back to their places of work.”
- Wide shot, podium with speakers in foreground and Room XIV to rear, Palais des Nations.
- Medium shot, podium with speakers, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- Medium shot, journalists sitting in front of laptop, wearing masks, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
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As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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