Border Restrictions Research Articles

Multilayered Borders as a Method for Studying Tourism Destinations: A Case of Northern European Border Regions

ABSTRACT The article problematizes tourism destination development in the European borderlands of Denmark–Germany, Sweden–Denmark and Sweden–Finland, where border crossing has been relatively free for decades, except for the time of Covid-19 pandemic border restrictions in 2020–2021. The research contributes to border studies and tourism studies by developing a framework for analyzing tourism destinations through the prism of the multilayered border, with a focus on destination images, attractions, and hosts. The reseach complements previous studies on tourism development and cross-border partnership in the European Union territory by investigating multiple tourism destinations in the border regions and by contemplating to what extent borders form a resource for destination promotion in the aftermath of the pandemic. The examination of regional tourism development through the prism of borders informs us about the compatibility of the idea of a “borderless” Europe with border region “realities.”

Perks or burdens? Being “nearly (Im)mobile” as IT foreign professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

ABSTRACT This paper investigates how Vietnamese IT professionals managed their daily work and family lives in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adapting the concept of “nearly mobile”, this study suggests a concept of “nearly (im)mobile”, which focuses on the tensions and opportunities between mobility and immobility in skilled migrants’ work and family life. Workers from Vietnam comprise the third-largest group of foreign IT professionals in Japan. Many worked remotely during the pandemic, like others in the IT industry. However, amidst the unmitigated expansion of remote work during the pandemic including among Japanese nationals, how these workers experienced this work style has remained under-researched. The findings are based on semi-structured online and in-person interview data from Vietnamese IT professionals. Similar to Japanese national employees, many Vietnamese professionals could work remotely. Moreover, the workforce needs in the labour market allowed some to change jobs. However, junior workers were forced to be immobile (at the office) or stay in on-the-job training, and some skilled workers were expected to commit to longer hours for online communication with staff in Vietnam. Additionally, border restrictions exposed the immobility of foreign IT professionals and family members in Japan and Vietnam, which prevented these professionals from receiving childcare support from their families. This paper argues that while Vietnamese IT professionals could be physically “nearly (im)mobile” by staying at home to work, they were simultaneously pressured to undergo “nearly (im)mobile” work practices in Japanese firms while constrained by managing their work and family lives.

Visa-on-arrival, ECOWAS-free Mobility and the Securitisation of the Intra-African Migration in Nigeria

Over the years, Nigeria’s regional hegemonic leadership in (West) Africa, especially within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region, has been debated within academic and foreign relations circles. A major component of this regional leadership aspiration was its quest for a ‘borderless Africa’. As an important arrowhead of its pro-African foreign policy, the Nigerian government proactively crafted a benign national border policy to give practical expression to the free mobility of persons and goods within the West African subregion. Despite a demonstrable commitment to free mobility within Africa over the years, Abuja suddenly imposed a restrictive border policy shortly after it signed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement and approved the contentious visa-on-arrival for African migrants. Considering this context, this study makes three arguments: First, it interrogates the rationale behind the liberal border diplomacy of the Nigerian government. Secondly, the paper contends that the inability to ‘silence the guns’ in Africa despite all efforts has seriously militated against the aspiration for intra-African mobility and borderless Community in West Africa. Lastly, the study examines the dire implications of Nigerian nationalistic border diplomacy and its declining soft power for the future of ‘borderless West Africa’.

Care Planning in Ageing Families during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Social Unrest in Hong Kong

The role of care planning in addressing eldercare challenges has received increasing attention. However, the influence of the uncertainty triggered by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, in conjuction with significant social unrest, on family eldercare planning remains unclear. This study examines eldercare planning experiences of families in Hong Kong, focusing on the evolving changes and adaptations faced by both local residents and mainland Chinese immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2019–2020 social unrest. Through purposive sampling, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 93 local residents and 66 migrants from 2020 to 2021. Five main themes emerged: (1) increased awareness of healthcare preparation and planning during the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) residential care homes as a suboptimal choice after the COVID-19 pandemic, (3) influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial planning for eldercare, (4) distant family care after the social unrest, and (5) the need to improve remote care under border restrictions. This study contributes to the literature by examining the intersection of crisis events and eldercare planning, viewing the family as a planning unit. It also deepens the understanding of caregiving within the context of health and social crises, providing valuable insights for the development of future support systems for older adults and their caregivers in similar circumstances.

Migrant necropolitics in No Man’s Land camps

Abstract Through genealogical explorations of the understudied No Man’s Land camps at Rukban and Zero Point, this paper aims to contribute a decolonial, South-centric perspective to critical refugee politics literature. The two No Man’s Land camps are conceptualized here as necropolitical spaces of migrant abandonment and containment, where States effectively determine ‘who may live and who must die’ through their violent expulsion of unwanted populations, securitized border policies and restrictions on life-saving aid. Despite their immobilization, the paper highlights how the displaced migrants formed self-government and engaged in claim-making for aid, rights, and homeland political change, thus transforming the death worlds of the No Man’s Land camps into spaces of vibrant political contention. This necropolitical resistance comes with the risk of death or redisplacement, but it provides tantalizing clues of the possibilities of living, even if only momentarily, beyond the law and the State.

Back to the future: Advancing more sustainable tourism through domestic summer holidaying after the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT Health hazards, border restrictions, insurance limitations, travel uncertainties, and other disruptions following the COVID-19 pandemic reduced international travel in the summer of 2021. The sudden travel changes created a unique opportunity to investigate potentials for reshaping future holidaying. The article’s objective is to investigate how experiences of domestic summer holidaying might have influenced attitudes towards future holiday travel. It is based on exploratory survey conducted among Oslo region inhabitants. A structural equation modelling analytical framework revealed two main holidaying orientations, environmentally friendly and international vacationist, characterised by five attitude dimensions, and associated with weaker and stronger inclinations towards future long-distance international travel, respectively. The sharply contrasting attitudes underpinning these orientations were based on experiences of ‘forced’ domestic holidaying shaping future travel intentions with implications for more sustainable tourism. The pandemic prompted some people to go ‘back to the future’ and intend to resume ‘old’ (traditional) summer holidaying practices: mainly short-distance domestic trips with reduced carbon footprint and greater emphasis on social bonds. In conclusion, the study contributes to theory development through exploring environmental consciousness and habit discontinuities, as well as time and distance perceptions related to holiday travel. Lastly, the implications of the findings are presented.

The impact of the COVID-19 public health response on service demand and patient perceptions in a tertiary Australian gynaecology oncology unit.

The public health response (PHR) to the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted healthcare services worldwide. Our hospital, a major tertiary centre, is a unique two-state service across Queensland and New South Wales (NSW). The primary objective is to describe changes in service demand and delivery in our hospital resulting from the COVID-19 PHR. The secondary objective is to investigate patient perceptions of this impact. We performed a retrospective interrupted time series analysis and a population-based survey to examine patient perceptions of the impact of the COVID-19 PHR. The study periods were demarcated by the initiation of the COVID-19 PHR on 1 March 2020 with the 'pre' and 'during' COVID-19 periods defined as the 12 months before and after this date respectively. More patients were seen during the COVID-19 PHR period. The number or stage of cancer diagnoses was not different (P > 0.05). There was evidence (P = 0.03) of an increase in overall occasions of service and fewer failed attendances (P = 0.005). Fewer surgeries were performed on NSW patients (P = 0.005). The survey response rate was 19.3% (n = 185) with 48% stating that COVID-19 had negatively affected their emotional wellbeing. More participants from NSW than Queensland identified border closures as the most significant impact of the COVID-19 PHR. The COVID-19 PHR resulted in an unexpected increase in unit service demand and delivery. The necessary implementation of telephone appointments, while less preferred by patients, sustained service requirements. Cross-border tertiary healthcare services should consider the significant impact of border restrictions on patient wellbeing.

Internalization of Borders: The Concept and Its Applications

AbstractEurope and the United States are spending billions on the fortification of borders to stop migrants deemed unwanted by the government. The questionable effectiveness of this policy and its disastrous, often deadly consequences for people on the move have been studied extensively. The political project of closing borders to racially stigmatized migrants has serious consequences not only for outsiders who want to get in, but also for the internal organization of the society that is responsible for governing those borders. Taken together, these social and normative consequences constitute what we call the “internalization of borders.” Borders reach out far into society and are felt not only by would-be migrants in the places where they are stuck. Societies in the Global North, too, are being adversely affected and harmed by restrictive border regimes and their internalizing effects. Yet, unlike the “externalization” of borders, their “internalization” has so far not been researched systematically. To address the gap, this Introduction proposes a conceptual framework of how to study border internalization. The other articles in the Forum will offer diverse case studies on the dark side of border internalization as well as on ways of countering it.

Liminality and transactional sex among queer refugees: Insights from Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, and Switzerland

Abstract People of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions who have been forcibly displaced (hereafter referred to as ‘queer refugees’) encounter liminal conditions along their displacement journeys that reinforce their marginalization. We conducted interviews with 46 queer refugees in four countries: Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, and Switzerland. We found that restrictive border controls, migration and refugee policies, asylum processes, and integration efforts structured queer refugees’ liminalities. In turn, they employed survival strategies, including engaging in transactional sexual practices, to meet their basic needs; however, these practices introduced health challenges for which they had limited access to services. In many instances, queer refugees engaged in transactional sex under exploitative and abusive conditions that heightened the risk of sexual and gender-based violence. Thus, we conclude that forced displacement emplaced queer refugees in states of multidimensional liminality that reinforced their marginalization.

5 - Recalibrating the labyrinths of migration and health in West Africa

The discourses and practices surrounding migration and health have taken a dramatic turn since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Experts are more concerned about the consequences of the pandemic on these factors in Africa, given the continent’s weak economies and poor health sector, which portends a difficult post-pandemic recovery. However, the discussions have not engaged with two key effects of the coronavirus: the health implications not only on the general populace but also along border towns, and the dilemma of a ‘new’ (il)legal migration. Drawing on Ghana’s border policing as a Covid-19 pandemic governance strategy, coupled with existing debates on health, politics, migration and development, we argue that border policing is likely to create two emerging threats. First, it could cause a ‘new’ health dilemma – hindering long-standing cross-border healthcare access by ECOWAS citizens. Second, sustained border restrictions could deepen the intricacies of migration in West Africa, including the promotion of ‘elite migrants’ over migrants who are seeking a basic livelihood, the changing fate of undocumented migrants, new security threats at border town , and a possible redefinition of traditional rural–urban migration in Africa.

Sufficient COVID-19 quarantine and testing on international travelers to forestall cross-border transmission after China's removal of the zero-COVID policy in early 2023

BackgroundRemoval of zero-COVID restrictions in China led to a surge in COVID-19 cases. In response, countries imposed restrictions on Chinese travelers. However, border policies imposed may not have been informed by accurate data and may not have provided substantial benefits. MethodsWe analyzed quarantines sufficient to prevent additional in-country transmission for February 13–19, 2023 based on World Health Organization (WHO) and self-reported infections to estimate prevalence. ResultsWe have shown that self-reported prevalence data indicated more stringent border restrictions compared to WHO-published prevalence statistics. No travel restrictions were required for Singapore, South Korea, and Japan so that infections would not be greater than with complete border closure. However, a 1-, 2-, and 3-day quarantine were indicated for England, Germany, and Scotland respectively. A 10-, 13-, and 14-day quarantine were required for Italy, France, and the Philippines, respectively, to prevent an increase in within-country infections due to travel. Vietnam and Thailand required a complete border shutdown. ConclusionOur results demonstrated the necessity for accurate and timely reporting of pandemic statistics to prevent an increase in viral spread. Through the minimum quarantine analysis, countries can use science to determine policy, minimize international friction, and improve the cost-efficiency of interventions.

Cross-border mobility in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion: impact of COVID-19 border restrictions on everyday activities and visiting social network members.

Cross-border mobility (CBM) to visit social network members or for everyday activities is an important part of daily life for citizens in border regions, including the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion (EMR: neighboring regions from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany). We assessed changes in CBM during the COVID-19 pandemic and how participants experienced border restrictions. Impact of COVID-19 on the EMR' is a longitudinal study using comparative cross-border data collection. In 2021, a random sample of the EMR-population was invited for participation in online surveys to assess current and pre-pandemic CBM. Changes in CBM, experience of border restrictions, and associated factors were analyzed using multinomial and multivariable logistic regression analysis. Pre-pandemic, 82% of all 3,543 participants reported any CBM: 31% for social contacts and 79% for everyday activities. Among these, 26% decreased social CBM and 35% decreased CBM for everyday activities by autumn 2021. Negative experience of border restrictions was reported by 45% of participants with pre-pandemic CBM, and was higher (p < 0.05) in Dutch participants (compared to Belgian; aOR= 1.4), cross-border [work] commuters (aOR= 2.2), participants with cross-border social networks of friends, family or acquaintances (aOR= 1.3), and those finding the measures 'limit group size' (aOR= 1.5) and 'minimalize travel' (aOR= 2.0) difficult to adhere to and finding 'minimalize travel' (aOR= 1.6) useless. CBM for social contacts and everyday activities was substantial in EMR-citizens, but decreased during the pandemic. Border restrictions were valued as negative by a considerable portion of EMR-citizens, especially when having family or friends across the border. When designing future pandemic control strategies, policy makers should account for the negative impact of CBM restrictions on their citizens.

A review of the Dutch sociologist Hein de Hass's new book, (How Migration Really Works: A Factful Guide to the Most Divisive Issue in Politics).

In his new book (How Migration Really Works), that divided into three parts and contains 22 chapters, based on research and data de Haas debunks 22 myths about migration and reveals the truth. The first myth that de Haas focuses on is: (Migration is at an all-time high). The second myth the author talks about is that (borders cannot be controlled). He continues and in Myth 11: (Mass migration has produced mass segregation) de Haas discusses the myth and argues that "segregation is not alarmingly high". In Myth 16: (Borders are closing down) and Myth 21: (Border restrictions reduce immigration) he tries to debunk these myths based on research and data. (Climate change will lead to mass migration) is the last of the myths that he deals with in his book.

The Sea Unites Us but It Is Governed to Keep Us Apart: Restoring the Creole Afro-Indigenous Sea Mobilities in the Southwestern Caribbean.

Increasingly, marine governance advocates for ocean justice and, within it, the rights of coastal communities and indigenous people over the ocean space. Yet, international and state sea regimes strengthen border restrictions, impeding people’s mobilities and fracturing the sea interconnectedness. Against this backdrop and delving into the empirical data gathered through ethnographical research, the paper examines the intangible and the material sea (im)mobilities experienced by the Creole Afro-Indigenous communities in the Corn Islands and the San Andres Archipelago in the Southwestern Caribbean Sea. Through the lens of critical ocean geography and mobility studies, it reveals how the maritime boundary regimes and the frameworks of oceans territoriality have impacted indigenous island spatialities in the Nicaraguan-Colombian marine border area for the last decades, disrupting family and social connections, weakening the communities’ autonomy, and impeding food and provisions supply between the islands, thus threatening the indigenous rights with implications for ocean justice. The paper finally considers Creole Afro-Indigenous maritime activism’s prominent role in decolonizing marine governance in the Greater Caribbean region, suggesting the relevance of laws, norms, structures and ocean governance institutions to acknowledge and incorporate these alternative legalities.

Communicating and complying with COVID-19 actions in northernmost Finland

ABSTRACT In Finland, national and local restrictions were implemented to control the COVID-19 pandemic after the increase of cases, and it changed the everyday life of people. The purpose of our study was to explore public health communication and compliance related to the COVID-19 public health instructions, recommendations, and restrictions in two municipalities in Northernmost Finland, Inari and Utsjoki. We interviewed the representatives and operators working in the municipalities to understand and learn about their experiences. Results suggested that residents complied with different COVID-19 actions, and overall, communication was found to be good. Altogether, guidelines were easy to follow but required the individual’s own activity. Guidelines were also published in Sámi language. National border restrictions were a challenging part of communication and information, and guidelines were found to be contradictory at times. National border actions required resources from the municipalities, e.g. testing, which caused more demands on municipalities operating with already low resources. In the future, it is essential to consider the local situation of the pandemic and harmonise actions and put effort on local cooperation. It is important to invest in clear communication, which reaches people of all ages, and in three Sámi languages.

Impact of the COVID-19 related border restrictions on influenza and other common respiratory viral infections in New Zealand.

New Zealand's (NZ) complete absence of community transmission of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) after May 2020, likely due to COVID-19 elimination measures, provided a rare opportunity to assess the impact of border restrictions on common respiratory viral infections over the ensuing 2 years. We collected the data from multiple surveillance systems, including hospital-based severe acute respiratory infection surveillance, SHIVERS-II, -III and -IV community cohorts for acute respiratory infection (ARI) surveillance, HealthStat sentinel general practice (GP) based influenza-like illness surveillance and SHIVERS-V sentinel GP-based ARI surveillance, SHIVERS-V traveller ARI surveillance and laboratory-based surveillance. We described the data on influenza, RSV and other respiratory viral infections in NZ before, during and after various stages of the COVID related border restrictions. We observed that border closure to most people, and mandatory government-managed isolation and quarantine on arrival for those allowed to enter, appeared to be effective in keeping influenza and RSV infections out of the NZ community. Border restrictions did not affect community transmission of other respiratory viruses such as rhinovirus and parainfluenza virus type-1. Partial border relaxations through quarantine-free travel with Australia and other countries were quickly followed by importation of RSV in 2021 and influenza in 2022. Our findings inform future pandemic preparedness and strategies to model and manage the impact of influenza and other respiratory viral threats.

Authoritarian neoliberalism between Johnson and Jupiter: Declining legitimacy and the elevation of home affairs in post-Brexit Britain and Macron’s France

In the face of protracted stagnation following the global financial crisis, democratic governments who remain committed to neoliberalism are still required to secure popular support for their programmes. This article evaluates how this dilemma has presaged a shift in the relationship between governmental attempts to maintain neoliberal legitimacy and the imposition of authoritarian reforms. We argue that, in the aftermath of the 2015 refugee crisis, this shift has consisted of the elevation of home affairs policy and the advance of a ‘mutated’ politics of legitimation characterised by explicit forms of ‘othering’ and hostility towards the wider political system. Drawing on the examples of the UK and France, we show how this deepening authoritarianism has manifested along two interconnected axes: (1) increased police powers and suppression of protests and civil liberties; (2) enhanced border security and restrictions on citizenship. Contributing to scholarship on authoritarian neoliberalism, we argue that this elevation of home affairs not only augurs the intensification of authoritarianism, but also reveals how governments have utilised popular resistance to authoritarian reforms to generate new forms of reactionary ‘consent’.

Supply-chain Disruptions under COVID: A Window of Opportunity for Local Producers?

Chinese imports replace locally manufactured products in developing countries. The import of consumer goods from China to West Africa is closely linked to commercial travel, and China’s border restrictions during the Covid outbreak put a near-halt to such travelling. Furthermore, the pandemic caused a global logistics crisis that disrupted supply chains with production in China. This paper asks whether Ghanaian manufacturers and artisanal producers could take advantage of these disruptions to enhance their competitive position. Did China’s border closure provide space for local Ghanaian producers to thrive? We address this question by drawing on data collected among Ghanaian plastic manufacturers and furniture makers, who have faced tough competition from Chinese imports. Our analysis shows that supply chain disruptions from China led to the substitution of certain products previously imported from China, and these effects were partially sustained after the Covid-induced barriers to imports from China were removed. However, the disruptions were also costly for many Ghanaian producers, as they depended on Chinese intermediary products, tools, and other inputs. This illustrates how economic lives in Ghana and China have become so profoundly intertwined that indiscriminate decoupling is neither possible nor desirable.

La narration oublieuse La fuite sans l’expulsion dans le cinéma germanophone

From 1945 to 1950 more than 12 million people considered to be German were forcibly displaced in Germany in its new restricted borders. The story of this migration, described as flight and expulsion, is highly complex. The analysis of its "forgetful narrative" in German-language cinema shows that the latter has played a major role in carving out two places of memory for the flight, the Treckand the shipwreck of the Wilhelm Gustloff, in the collective memory. It has also helped to build the myth of successful integration while neglecting to portray the events linked to expulsion, because of competing memories with that of the Shoah.

Exploring Modernity, Nurturing Tradition: The Pesantren Leaders' Journey in Japan

The COVID-19 pandemic, from early 2020, compelled rigorous border restrictions among nations. Travel between countries became virtually impossible to curb the virus's rampant spread. All plans involving face-to-face human interactions had to be abandoned except for essential pandemic-related activities. Consequently, the scheduled leaders' visits from Indonesian Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) to Japan during this period had to be withdrawn as well.This annual event, initiated in 2004 through collaboration between the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University of Jakarta and the Government of Japan, aims primarily to enhance understanding and cultivate friendship between Japan and Indonesia, particularly among the Muslim community. Over nearly two decades, this program facilitated the participation of 157 leaders (kiai and nyai) from diverse regions in Indonesia, enabling them to observe contemporary developments in Japanese society while exchanging insights into the characteristics of Indonesia's Muslim community with the local people. Domestically, this initiative also desired to strengthen networks among pesantrens.