Syrian refugee labour and food insecurity in Middle Eastern agriculture during the early COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Drawing on ethnographic data from the 2019 SyrianFoodFutures and the 2020 From the FIELD projects, this article provides insights into the early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on refugee labour in agriculture in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey. In spring 2020, movement restrictions and supply chain disruptions caused displaced Syrian farmworkers to lose their jobs and face increased food insecurity. The authors situate their findings in the context of host countries' use of legal ambiguity in governing refugees, Middle Eastern agriculture's reliance on migrant labour, and the region's long-standing food insecurity. They conclude that formalizing refugee labour cannot alone address exploitation.