While we were compiling this book, the world changed in a way so dramatically that hardly anybody could have predicted. The coronavirus pandemic caused global social and economic disruption. It led to the closure of borders, slashed possibilities to get access to asylum in Europe, and made it impossible for transnational families to reunite. Covid-19 also exacerbated the structural inequalities already faced by migrants and minorities in Europe.
1 Migrants and minorities are overrepresented in the labor sectors that are more exposed to Covid-19, and in the sectors suffering job losses due to the corona-induced economic crisis. The corona crisis also led to increased ethnic profiling by the police due to enhanced controls for public health reasons.
Inequalities already existing in health, at work and during policing were reinforced during the pandemic.