On November 29, Pope Francis issued a message to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the International Organization for Migration.

In his message, the Pope criticized the effects of Covid-related lockdowns on migrants. “On the one hand, in the markets of upper-middle-income countries, migrant labor is in high demand and welcomed as a way to compensate for the lack of it,” he wrote. “On the other, migrants are generally rejected and subject to resentful attitudes by many of their host communities.”

“Unfortunately, this double standard stems from the prevalence of economic interests over the needs and dignity of the human person,” he continued. “This tendency was particularly evident during the Covid-19 ‘lockdowns,’ when many of the ‘essential’ workers were migrants, but they were not granted the benefits of the Covid-19 economic aid programs or even access to basic health care and immunization.”