Re-Thinking International Migration in Terms of Vulnerability: A Critical Overview of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Problems in the international arena lead to consequences that trigger mass migrations. Migration mobility, which has existed for centuries, leads to global population movements, especially with the search for more welfare depending on living conditions. Therefore, the issue of immigration and the situation of immigrants appear in the international arena through states’ granting different statuses to individuals. However, this does not indicate that every individual has rights that will arise from international law. A fundamental right that an individual has in terms of human rights, namely the right to life, is restricted in some cases. In this respect, the issue of immigration and immigration has become different during the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, what needs to be questioned here is why the international structure, which recognizes and protects the individual as a subject of law, simultaneously puts individuals in the position of the other and jeopardizes their vulnerable and fragile existence. The notion of “vulnerability” has no standard definition, but at the same time, it refers to “an internal risk factor of the subject (Paul, 2014).“Within this study's scope, the migration issue will be discussed in the context of “vulnerability,” which has come to the fore in the literature between 2019 and 2022. The concept of “vulnerability” appears in the context of humanitarian debates, especially in a diary about immigration and asylum. The aim here is to examine migration's changing or unchanging nature during the pandemic process and states’ approaches. Therefore, with this study, the relationship between the phenomenon of migration and the concept of vulnerability during the Covid-19 period will be revealed, and the use of the idea will be realized in literature.