Temporary Migrants as Dehumanised ‘Other’ in the Time of COVID-19: We’re All in This Together?

Abstract

Temporary migrants comprise a substantial component of the Australian workforce. Evidence of the tensions and contradictions in Australia’s reliance on temporary migrant workers was spotlighted during the COVID-19 global health crisis, particularly with regards to the actions and responsibilities of key players in the attraction, recruitment, deployment and ultimately abandonment of these workers. In this article, we interrogate the public framing of temporary migrant workers within the context of the pandemic. We employ a discourse analysis and build upon theories of precarity and dehumanisation. In doing so we demonstrate how the precarious state within which temporary migrant workers found themselves saw them cast as a dehumanised and unwelcome ‘other’, a burden to the labour market, the state and the broader society.