Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ordered a total lockdown with no warning and very little time to prepare on March 31st forcing hundreds of thousands of migrant workers to risk their lives walking hundreds of kilometers home in large groups. 

The Indian government needs to provide migrant workers with shelters and means of transportation like all long-haul trains services. Otherwise, the lockdown designed to slow the transmission of the coronavirus may actually end up spreading it and puts migrant workers at risk of hunger and exhaustion. Twenty-two people have already been reported to have died while journeying home.

COVID 19 is a test of solidarity and cooperation for societies and for us, individuals. In the amid of this global pandemic, we must respect for human rights across the spectrum, including economic and social rights, and civil and political rights. This is how we will measure the success of the public health response.