THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON MIGRATION AND MIGRATORY FLOWS

This volume contains the proceedings of the XXXIVth Annual Meeting of the European Consortium for Church and State Research (ECCSR) held in Malta on the 29th October 2022 at Mount St Joseph Retreat House in Mosta on the topic "The Impact of Covid-19 on Migration and Migratory Flows: New Challenges in Tackling Cultural and Religious Diversity".
The meeting was part of a larger conference organised jointly between the ECCSR and the European Migration Network (EMN) on the same theme of migration. On the first day of the conference, the ECCSR members and rapporteurs were guest of the EMN at the Malta Marriott Hotel in St Julian’s.
Although the ECCSR Annual Meeting was originally intended to focus on the impact of Covid-19, by the time of the conference, the war in Ukraine had commenced and the national rapporteurs were directed to factor into their reports the impact or effect of the Russian aggression.
The meeting of the 29th was divided into two sessions. The first session dealt with migratory flows, with particular emphasis on policing, control and containment of irregularised migrant/asylum flows at the borders, and with migrant return. Also discussed was how specific religious denominations were affected, particularly at detention centres, and the action taken by States and by churches and religious organisations to assist migrants with regard to the freedom to practice their religious beliefs.
The second session focussed on access to social and cultural rights by the migrant communities in the various countries represented at the meeting, including assistance provided by churches and church organisations in this respect.
In total, seventeen national reports were presented and discussed, plus another report from a general E.U. perspective. Two general reports were drawn up after the meeting - one in respect of each session - and these are also published here.
Vincent A. De Gaetano
Chief Justice Emeritus, Malta