Migration and development

Emerging Trends in Somaliland Diaspora Response to Covid-19

Reflections on the mobilities turn

New article follows used computers sent from Denmark to Ghana

On 9 April, BBC Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis opened by characterising the Corona pandemic as “a health issue with huge ramifications for social welfare, and a welfare issue with huge ramifications for public health.” But what does a response to COVID-19 look like in the absence of functioning public health and welfare systems? Some early insights can be gleaned from Somalia, a country that since the early 1990s has suffered persistent state collapse, identity and religious conflict, and a series of humanitarian crises. Has the virus changed life in Somalia ‘as we know it’, or is it one crisis amongst many?

Blogpost on what we know about remittances in times of crisis, with focus on Somali East Africa and its diaspora

As the COVID-19 virus spreads on the African continent, Somalis in Africa and around the world fear a devastating humanitarian disaster is in the making. While complex crises are not news in this part of the world, this time is different. Not only are there warnings that the Somali peninsula could become one of the worst hit areas on the globe; the global Somali diaspora is affected as well.

A little more knowledge and a more nuanced perspective could greatly benefit thinking on policy.