Migration Issues in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparison Between the European Union and Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Abstract

— Migration is an extremely important topic, which may arouse more or less interest, depending on the political and social context. Due to its phenomenology, comprehensiveness, importance as well as the impossibility of reducing it to the state level, the modern approach to the issue of migration must include a policy and polity analysis of the activities of international organizations. The focus of this review paper is a comparison of the actions of the European Union (EU) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) towards migration issues, especially from the aspect of the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the research is to observe the current course of activities of these two organizations and examine whether and to what extent there has been a change in their activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The central research question is: How does the EU and ASEAN approach the issue of migration in general and during the COVID-19 pandemic in particular? The aim of the analysis is to compare approaches and identify differences in treatment between the EU and ASEAN.