South Asia faces a remittances crisis amid COVID-19 pandemic

Coronavirus lockdowns cost millions of migrant workers their jobs, halting billions in remittances they sent home.

Millions of migrant workers have found themselves out of a job worldwide as economies ground to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic.

At least 50,000 Indian workers have come back home since early May. Workers from India and Pakistan sent home more than $100bn last year.

The World Bank expects the amount of money sent by all foreign workers to their families will fall by 20 percent this year as millions lose their jobs and return home.

Al Jazeera’s Elizabeth Puranam reports from New Delhi, India, on the impact being felt in South Asia.