The author is a professor at the School of International Development and Globalization and an associate researcher at the University of Montreal. His first essay, “Losing the South. Decolonizing international solidarity ”, was published by Éditions Écosociété in August 2020.
Following the discovery of the Omicron variant this week, Canada closed its borders to ten African countries. Nationals of South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Egypt, Malawi and Nigeria can no longer enter the country, while those from other countries that are struggling with outbreaks of the new variant still may. This is an arbitrary and ineffective policy.
On the list of ten banned countries, only two have detected cases of the Omicron variant on their territory, namely South Africa and Botswana. Yet the 20 or so other countries around the world that have detected similar cases are not on this list, such as Israel, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Austria, Ireland and Australia. In fact, Europe has remained the epicenter of the pandemic for several months, but Canada continues to be more afraid of African countries.
According to the information available, the Netherlands is the country of origin of the Omicron variant, but Dutch nationals can still take their vacation in Montreal. Brazil is also not on the list of banned countries, although it is led by an anti-vaccine president who denies the impact of the pandemic since its inception and that the variant is on its territory.
We do not even require entry tests to people arriving through the US border, although this is one of the countries with the highest rate of anti-vaccine people, therefore with a high risk of outbreaks. . The decision to close our borders to African countries rather than European countries or the United States therefore has much more to do with public opinion than with science.
Inefficiency
It is true that South Africa has detected cases of the Omicron variant in its territory. However, if we start to blacklist each African country that detects new variants on its territory, it is likely that they will refuse to give us this information in the future.
The World Health Organization warns against this type of unilateral and arbitrary policy and calls on countries to act “calmly, in a coordinated and coherent manner”. Doctor Joanne Liu, former international president of Médecins sans frontières, agrees and affirms on various platforms that closing borders is not the preferred solution. Rather, experts believe screening, sequencing and enforcing a quarantine are more effective in tackling the pandemic than closing borders.
It would make more sense to test travelers when they arrive in Canada than before they leave the country of origin. Especially since, if you undergo a test before going to eat and taking a taxi to get to the airport, the test becomes null and void. For example, Hong Kong, which has detected cases of the Omicron variant in its territory after South Africa, is testing anyone who enters its territory to prevent the spread.
South Africa also has a state-of-the-art virus detection system, one of the best on the African continent, which enables it to contain outbreaks well. Remember that many African countries have detection and quarantine systems that are much more effective than here, due to their experience with epidemics such as HIV and Ebola.
We also remember that previous border closures, in particular the one that followed the discovery of the Delta variant, have not succeeded in stopping the progress of the pandemic. Vaccination and entry testing are by far the most effective mechanisms to slow the spread of the virus around the world.
Self-centered
While South Africa has shown honesty and teamwork in providing WHO with information on the new variant, we are responding with selfishness and withdrawal. If only this arbitrary border closure could actually save lives, the debate would be quite different. However, experts are of the opposite opinion.
And if we close our doors to countries arbitrarily, what will prevent other countries from closing theirs to us? Canada is on a list of about 25 countries that have detected cases of the Omicron variant. If we persist in this unwarranted decision to close our borders to some countries, but not others, we risk a boomerang effect that will affect our own ability to travel.
Finally, it is ironic to close our borders to countries with which we refuse to share the patents that would allow them to produce less expensive vaccines. In addition, while millions of people at risk in southern countries are not vaccinated, we are promoting a 3e dose for healthy people and vaccination for children, who are at low risk of developing fatal complications.
While I understand the desire for more protections, our current policies only give us a sense of security. The refusal to share our vaccines and the closing of borders, rather than a sharing of doses and tests on entry, only slow down the way out of the crisis for everyone. Closing our borders arbitrarily is therefore a selfish decision, but above all inconsistent and ineffective.