Covid-19 turning back the flow of migration in Latin America

As the Covid-19 pandemic hit countries around the world, many nations adopted isolation measures that involved sending tourists back home. Equally, governments and embassies from all continents issued pleas for their own citizens — in foreign countries for work, study, or leisure — to return home as the outbreak intensified. In Brazil, the Foreign Ministry sent planes to bring back hundreds of tourists on holiday, including one group of 410 Brazilians in Peru. For them, the process was painless, they may have had their holiday cut short, but they were soon back at home with their families.

But what happens when returning to your home country is the last thing you want to do? And what if you are faced with closed borders?

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 514 people died in 2019 while trying to migrate to different countries. Of these, a minimum of 247 were Central Americans seeking out a new life in the U.S. In these so-called “migrant caravans,” there are often entire families and children traveling alone.

The Covid-19 pandemic is also a big threat to Venezuela, which is in the throes of one of Latin America’s worst humanitarian crises. The Office of...