A/76/257 xenophobic speeches or expressions associating the disea se of COVID-19 with migrants or on the basis of their ethnicity. V. Emerging practices for the protection of the human rights of migrants in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic 62. The Special Rapporteur notes with appreciation different initiatives taken by States and other relevant stakeholders to support and include migrants in COVID -19 response and recovery plans, regardless of their migration status. Extension of visa and regularization processes 63. A number of States have adopted measures related to the extension of visas and regularization processes. Colombia decided to grant 10-year temporary protection status to the 1.7 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants living in the country. 54 Italy undertook a regularization programme for undocumented migrants in the agricultural and domestic sectors. 55 Other States, in view of pandemic-related travel restrictions, automatically extended visas and work and residence permits of migrants. Croatia automatically extended a number of short-term stay visas and continued with its international protection procedures; 56 Israel extended automatically visas for workers and asylum seekers whose visas were set to expire; 57 and the Russian Federation extended temporary visas and limited deportations. Argentina, Ireland, Romania, Spain and Tunisia also extended visas and permits. 58 64. Australia, Azerbaijan, Germany, Maldives, the Russian Federation, Switzerland and Tunisia adapted procedures and eased criteria for applying for residence and work permits extensions, including electronically. 59 Portugal granted temporary residence permits to all migrants with a pending application on any ground. 60 Migration taxes and levy fees for specific sectors were removed or reduced (in Argentina and Maldives) and health-care fees for migrants lifted (in Portugal and Singapore). 65. Chile, Czechia, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Portugal and Spain provided blanket relief measures to migrants who were unable to leave their country. 61 El Salvador provided cards and social protection coverage to essential seasonal and cross-border migrant workers. 62 Caritas Andorra provided food vouchers to seasonal workers stranded in the country. 63 66. While positive, the Special Rapporteur notes that the above-mentioned initiatives are temporary in nature and will expire once the pandemic ends. Considering that the social and economic negative effects of the pandemic are expected to persist well beyond the public sanitary crisis, it would be essential to adopt more permanent regularization measures. This has been the approach adopted __________________ 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 14/22 See www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/press/2021/2/60214cf74/unhcr-iom-welcome-colombiasdecision-regularize-venezuelan-refugees-migrants.html. See https://picum.org/regularising-undocumented-people-in-response-to-the-covid-19-pandemic/. Submission by Croatia. Submission by Israel. Submissions by States; Asylum Information Database for Spain. See https://picum.org/regularising-undocumented-people-in-response-to-the-covid-19-pandemic/. Submission by Portugal. See www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/managing-international-migration-under-covid19-6e914d57/. Submission by El Salvador. See www.caritas.eu/caritas-andorra-and-the-covid-19-crisis/. 21-10577