Abstract
In response to the COVID pandemic, the Norwegian government implemented the strictest border controls in modern Norwegian history, barring entry to most foreign nationals. The Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, justified these policies with reference to the rise of new COVID variants and the need to limit visitors to Norway as much as possible. As this approach has severe adverse effects on many people, there is a need to critically examine the justification given for closing the border. In this paper, we argue that while many border restrictions are legitimate, (1) the arguments given for the recent banning of entry for groups of people are not convincing, and (2) that the ban unduly limits personal freedoms and places an unjust burden on transnational citizens and Norwegians with close relations abroad. Keywords: COVID-19, Border Closure, Border Restrictions, Justice, Sovereignty, Nationalism, Immigration, Freedom, Ignorance
Highlights
On 29 January 2021, the Norwegian government introduced the strictest entry rules since March 2020 – which were the strictest since World War II
The emergence of the latest COVID variant, Omicron, appears to be changing this picture as we write,. We argue that this appearance is misleading
We argue in that earlier draft that interesting parallels exist with the works of Blake (2002), Egan (2020) and Cabrera (2020), as well as with the empirical data in Elias and others (2021)
Summary
On 29 January 2021, the Norwegian government introduced the strictest entry rules since March 2020 – which were the strictest since World War II. People who did not have Norwegian citizenship or reside in Norway would no longer have access to the country, with a few exceptions. These included the following groups: parents of children over 18, grandparents, adult children, partners, siblings, seasonal workers, guest researchers and students. This placed a heavy burden on transnational citizens, international migrants who have attachments and connections in other countries, and Norwegian residents who have attachments abroad. Many were unable to see their families or start new jobs, and as the border closure was open-ended, with no end in sight, they often found themselves in an existential limbo, unable to plan for the future
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