№ 3-2020 (COVID-19 and mobility)
The present issue of the journal is devoted to the research of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on population mobility.
The issue consists of four key sections.
The first section, “Global Migration in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic,” presents articles by researchers from Vietnam, Russia, and Tajikistan. The articles discuss the problems of border closure and the trends of global migration mobility and raise issues regarding the observance of the rights of migrants in isolation in various regions of the world. Due to the closure of state borders, migrants are in the most vulnerable position without livelihoods. The challenges of migrants who are stuck outside their countries between the borders of different states during a pandemic are identified. There is a special place for climate migration, which also changes its tendencies during the pandemic.
The second section, “Regional and ethnic-demographic aspects of migration in the context of the COVID-10 pandemic,” includes articles by scholars from Bangladesh, Brazil, Iran, and Russia that explore pandemic trends in different regions and countries of the world and its impact on migration mobility and migrants. The articles also discuss the relations of the local population and migrants, which have exacerbated in some countries due to the spread of COVID-19 and border closures, for example, migrants often face migrant-phobia of some radical locals. Moreover, it is noted a special role of the media and social networks in shaping the image of migrants. Russian researchers have conducted a context analysis of the image of a migrant in the media and social networks during the pandemic.
The third section “Labor, forced and educational migration during the COVID-19 pandemic” contains articles by researchers from Argentina, Mongolia, Syria, and Russia, which reveal the specifics of the situation of labor migrants, foreign students, and refugees in various regions and countries of the world. It also examines the characteristics of female migration and the status of women migrant workers in the host society and on the labor market during the pandemic.
The fourth section, “Socio-demographic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic,” is composed of articles by researchers from China and Russia. The articles examine the socio-demographic aspects of the pandemic including the effect on mortality, the situation of older people and young people, isolation risks for society, and the education system.
I would also like to note that the issue of the journal coincided with the establishment of the new Institute for Demographic Research as part of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (order No. 54 of 1.06.2020). It is the second time in the history of the country. For the first time, the Demographic Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR was established in 1931 and worked until 1934. We hope that the new Institute for Demographic Research of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences will have a long history, unite demographic scientists, and provide scientific and methodological support to the state structures of Russia in the implementation of demographic and migration policies.

Editor-in-chief Ryazantsev Sergey Vasil’evich,
RAS Corresponding Member in the specialty “Sociology and Demography”