Are Border Closures the Magic Wand for COVID-19?

“We are at war!” declared the French President Emmanuel Macron as he declared the lockdown measures in France against the COVID-19 pandemic on 16 March 2020. In this war against the invisible virus, governments have adopted border closure as an important weapon. How effective has it been?

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the world hard. Businesses are down, millions of people are out of work with several countries facing certain recession. The world’s largest economy- the United States has seen a record contraction in real GDP by 32.9 % which by far outweighs the previous record of 10% in 1958. The transportation and tourism sectors have been severely affected while the education of millions of students has been truncated with the closures of schools and limited access to educational technologies. The vulnerable populations including migrants, refugees and internally-displaced persons are facing increased deprivation with disruption in humanitarian services and limited access to water, sanitation and health (WASH) facilities that could reduce their susceptibility to falling victims to the rampaging virus. Yet, COVID-19 is not showing any signs of slowing down. In 8 months, it has claimed over 685,000 lives with 17.9 million infections in over 200 countries and territories across the globe as of August 1, 2020. While European states appeared to have survived the initial onslaught and began reopening in the ‘new normal’ in June, the virus has resurfaced with surging infection rates in places such as Spain leading to fears of the 2nd wave. Meanwhile, other countries are still steadily climbing the curve- the United States, Brazil, India, South Africa amongst others with record numbers of new cases.

States around the world have adopted similar containment measures- restricting internal movement, confining the vast majority of the world’s population to their homes and robust use of technologies to contact trace and isolate infected persons. The border closure has been a crucial measure adopted by several states as a COVID-19 response. The border has a long history of being used as a security tool by countries. Dating back to the creation of the modern country in the aftermath of the Westphalia Treaty of 1648, the border has come to symbolize the extent of a government’s authority and sovereignty over the citizens in its territory. Close attention is paid to the border so a state can keep out threats to its citizens while welcoming non-threats into its territory. In the wake of September 11 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks on the United States, much emphasis has been placed on border security with countries adopting state-of-the-art technologies to ensure their barriers are not breached. Nowadays, the borders have moved inwards from the points of entry and exit at the land, sea and airspace of a state’s territory. In what is referred to as the ‘externalisation of the border’, the screening protocols are taken right to the doorstep of the likely security threats before they even reach the destination country such as visa applications at embassies and migration management programs at source countries. The growth of globalisation with its increased transportation and communication technology in the last 20 years of the 21st century placed an emphasis on the facilitating role of the borders for trade and travel but the COVID-19 pandemic has instead placed a premium on the borders as a security measure.

Borders around the world have remained closed for much of 2020. Countries in the European Union that abolished their internal borders under the Schengen agreement of 1995, hastily put them back up in response to the pandemic. The European Union only reopened its external borders to 16 countries around the world with a travel ban list that includes the United States, Brazil and India. Various movement protocols are being considered around the world such as COVID-19 immunity passports that would only grant inter-state movement to survivors of the virus or people deemed to be negative.

This begs the question of this article. How effective are border closures against the COVID-19 pandemic?

Not airtight, I am afraid. Despite the closures of borders especially from March 2020, the COVID-19 virus has spread across all countries of the world. An aid to this early spread was the two weeks incubation period when patients were asymptomatic and the inadequate testing capacity and kit. However, the virus is still spreading despite months of border closures due to people’s disregard for social distancing and high levels of disinformation about the virus as currently seen in the United States. The instinct of governments to any internal or external security threats is to close the borders to contain it. But this is one public health security threat that the world has not encountered in the last 100 years. Moving across borders with lightning speed, the coronavirus has defied such conventional measures to defeat it. Indeed, closing the borders indefinitely has been a futile attempt to contain the virus and instead, the World Health Organisation (WHO) advocates that we should rather learn to live with the virus while adapting in the new normal.

Another disadvantage of the border closures is the setback it causes to the resumption of the global economy. The global economy has been projected to enter into a deep recession. Cessation of business activities especially in international trade has caused major upheavals in the supply and demand for vital goods and services. Millions of people are experiencing enhanced food insecurity as more people slide below the poverty line. Travel and tourism sectors, in particular, have been badly hit and continue to count their losses as the summer season wears on without the resumption of global travel. Reopening the borders is very important to kickstarting the global economy. The earlier this is done, the faster it may be for people to resume travelling and the global supply chain to pick up again.

Finally, the border closures symbolise a reluctance of countries to work together to eliminate a common security threat. State governments have often faltered when faced with security threats that require joint action to defeat. Climate change is one such global threat that various states have failed to tackle effectively together most especially the United States in recent times. States are used to going it alone and resolving their security challenges with little or no help from the international community. This inherent characteristic flows from the anarchic nature of the international system that presupposes that all states are equal or sovereign and have to look out for their interests. This is not the right approach for such a time as this COVID-19. Closed borders come with a mistrust of ‘the other’ or the rest of the international community and a reluctance to share information or expertise and work together. The World Health Organisation has come under fire from different quarters led by the United States that accuses it of being biased towards China thus eroding the confidence in its abilities to lead a global response to this pandemic.

In conclusion, the closed borders have not prevented the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Keeping them closed hurts the global economy and reduces the tendency of states to work together to combat this global threat. Reopening them in a safe and orderly fashion is the best way to quickly move past this COVID-19 era.

What do you think?