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Neglect of low-income migrants in COVID-19 response

South Asia, home to around a quarter of the world’s population and 40% of the world’s poor, is being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The global response to the pandemic has focused mainly on containment of the contagion and “flattening the curve” through testing and strict social distancing, but these universal approaches fail to take account of resource limitations in countries in South Asia and ignore the realities of vulnerable populations, such as low-income migrants, internally…

The need for an evidence-informed, multi-sectoral and community participatory action framework to address the practice of female genital mutilation in Sri Lanka

Background: Female genital mutilation or cutting comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the female external genitalia and or injury to the female genital organs. The practice is most common in 30 countries in the Western, Eastern, and North-eastern regions of Africa, and in selected countries the Middle East and Asia. With increased migration from such countries, health professionals in destination countries. are confronted with the challenge of caring for women…

Migration Health Research to advance evidence based policy and practice in Sri Lanka

Despite the growing recognition of the importance that migration health plays in advancing global health and sustainable development goals, there is a paucity of technical guidance and “lessons learned” documents to guide Member States, international organizations, academia, civil society and other stakeholders seeking to develop effective migration health policies and interventions using evidence-based approaches. Governments today are faced with the challenge of…

IOM-MPI Issue in Brief No. 14 - Promoting the health of left-behind children of Asian labour migrants: Evidence for policy and action

International labor migration has become a vital component in not only driving economic development for many Asian countries, but also in transforming traditional roles of parenting and caregiving practices for millions of children of migrant workers. While remittances, consistently sent home by migrant workers, are one of the highest sources of foreign exchange earnings for many countries, labor migration can also at times create a negative influence on health, break down…

Analysis of the domestic legal framework in relation to the right to health for internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka

This document examined Sri Lanka’s current legal framework to examine the extent to which the ‘right to health’ is stipulated specifically for those conflict affected internally displaced persons (IDPs) living within IDP camp settings. Understanding the domestic legal frameworks pertaining to the right to health may be useful for those professionals working at the nexus of legal medicine and human rights in Sri Lanka and advancing gaps in knowledge in this area.

Situation Report on International Migration in South and South-West Asia

This report analyzes migration issues taking into account socio-economic complexities. Analysis is provided in both the country and thematic chapters. The country chapters present an overview of migration dynamics in 10 countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Turkey while the thematic chapters contain an analysis of regional migration trends and issues from eight standpoints, namely…

Country Report Card on “Health of Migrants” Resolution

Progress made and challenges faced by the Government of Sri Lanka on advancing the resoluton on 'Health of Migrants", adopted 25th of January 2008 at the 122th session of the World Health Assembly. 

Since the WHA resolution was passed, the Government of Sri Lanka has progressed rapidly in developing a National Agenda on the Health of Migrants, spearheaded by the Ministry of Health. The Presidential manifesto, the “Mahinda Chintanya” also makes…