A/76/257 of 2020, compared with the same period of the previous year, primarily owing to the lockdown restrictions and the disruptions on service delivery. 7 25. Some States have allowed entry to asylum seekers and migrants while ensuring public health protocols and others have facilitated online applications. In many other cases, migrants, including asylum seekers, got stranded in countries of destination or transit and were unable to return home; others were forced to rely on smugglers and unregulated intermediaries 8 and use unsafe routes; and some were forced to return to their countries of origin. Some of these forced returns were carried out through administrative decisions and without due process guarantees, with a severe impact on human rights protections and increasing the risks of human rights violations, in some cases at the cost of lives. 9 Impact on the right to health 26. While not inherently more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 virus than other people and communities, many migrants are at a much higher risk of infection owing to increased health-related vulnerabilities. Migrants, in particular those undocumented or in an irregular situation, often face a higher incidence of poverty, overcrowded and unsanitary housing conditions, discrimination and lack of access to health services and social protection entitlements, lack of safe drinking water and sanitation, unsafe work conditions – where physical distancing may be difficult to practise – as well as digital exclusion or language and cultural barriers that can increase health -related vulnerabilities. 10 27. Socioeconomic insecurity related to COVID-19, such as employment loss, reduced income, inaccessible health services, fear of deportation and discrimination, have affected the mental health and psychosocial conditions of many migrants. The Swiss Red Cross Outpatient Clinic for the victims of torture and war indicates that the general uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic triggers considerable fears among migrant and refugee patients. 11 28. Women and children, including unaccompanied and separated children, may also face specific vulnerabilities in the context of the pandemic. 12 Owing to containment measures, movement restrictions, closed clinics or disrupted service delivery, migrant women have struggled to gain access to health care, including sexual and reproductive health care, and other essential support services for victims of sexual violence in need of prompt medical assistance. 13 Children have also been affected. The loss of income and livelihoods of parents or guardians affect the physical and mental health and education of children and increase the risk of child __________________ 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 6/22 See https://www.unhcr.org/5fc504d44.pdf; see also https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statisticsexplained/index.php?title=File:Table2_-_Asylum_applicants,_Q3_2019_%E2%80%93_Q3_ 2020.png&oldid=509073. See www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---migrant/documents/ publication/wcms_748839.pdf. See https://migrationnetwork.un.org/sites/default/files/ docs/kms_refoulement_detention_and_ deportations_of_children_in_the_context_of_covid -19.pdf; see also https://unsdg.un.org/sites/ default/files/2020-06/SG-Policy-Brief-on-People-on-the-Move.pdf. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), “What is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on immigrants and their children?” (October 2020). See www.redcross.ch/it/ambulatorio-per-vittime-della-tortura-e-della-guerra. See www.iom.int/news/enhancing-access-services-migrants-context-covid-19-preparednessprevention-response-and-beyond. Submission by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women). 21-10577