Barriers to entry: covid-19 and migration
Economist Podcasts
The Economist
4.3 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 30 July 2020
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The crisis has disproportionately squeezed migrants and has given many leaders an excuse to tighten borders. Will the restrictions outlast the pandemic? Balkan countries were notorious for organised crime in the 1990s—but a new report suggests the next generation of tech-savvy gangsters is even more formidable. And a look at this summer’s clutch of Mars missions.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio. |
| 0:07.0 | I'm your host, Jason Palmer. |
| 0:10.0 | Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:16.0 | In the 1990s, Balkan countries were notorious for their organized crime. |
| 0:22.9 | But that generation of gangsters has been locked up or retired. |
| 0:27.4 | A new report suggests a new generation is more nimble, more tech-savvy, more international, and tougher to beat. |
| 0:35.3 | And an ambitious Mars mission is set to launch in America today. |
| 0:39.3 | The red planet will soon be a busy place. |
| 0:42.3 | In the past 10 days, both China and the United Arab Emirates have launched their own missions. |
| 0:48.3 | We look at the science and the politics of the Mars race. |
| 0:56.0 | But first... |
| 1:01.0 | Every single country in the world has imposed travel restrictions because of COVID-19. |
| 1:06.0 | There are more than 65,000 rules in total, and it'll be a long time before globe-trotters can trot |
| 1:12.7 | freely again. For those hoping for a summertime getaway, it's annoying, but for would-be migrants, |
| 1:19.1 | it can be life-shattering. Tens of millions who would have set off to start a new life this year |
| 1:24.4 | can't go, and tens of millions more who had already migrated have lost |
| 1:28.8 | their jobs. But foreign nationals don't always get the same support as citizens. |
| 1:37.0 | In South Africa, there are millions of migrants from other parts of Africa. |
| 1:43.9 | John McDermott is our chief Africa correspondent. |
| 1:46.0 | Most of these people work in low-paying jobs. |
| 1:50.0 | They live hand to mouth, whether as domestic workers, |
| 1:54.0 | construction workers or in the hospitality sector. |
... |
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