(United Nations) Faced with the Omicron variant, border closures are “deeply unjust, punitive and ineffective,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday, denouncing a form of “apartheid” against Africa and calling for testing to be developed.
“With a virus truly without borders, the travel restrictions which isolate a country or a region are not only deeply unfair and punitive, they are ineffective”, he asserted during a press briefing, denouncing the “Scandal” of a condemnation of Africa for not being vaccinated enough.
Referring to South Africa, which reported the Omicron appearance on November 24 and saw borders closed to its nationals, the UN chief said countries should not “be collectively punished for having identified and shared crucial scientific and health information with the world ”.
It is “unfair” and “immoral”, he repeated.
It is a very strong appeal that I am making, an appeal to common sense. We have the tools to travel safely. Let me use these instruments to avoid this kind of apartheid, let me say, which I find unacceptable.
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General
“In this period of pandemic and climate crisis, Africa is condemned not to have the necessary vaccines for its people. Africa is condemned not to have the financial resources necessary to revive its economies. Africa is condemned, without having contributed to climate change, to suffer the worst effects of climatic disasters, without having the necessary resources to build the resilience of its populations, ”also insisted the UN chief.
Present at his side, the president of the Commission of the African Union, Moussa Faki Mahamat, also denounced the “unjustifiable stigma” of the African continent.
“For being transparent […], the whole of southern Africa has suffered sanctions, ”he lamented about the border closures to its citizens.
“Less than 6% of Africans are vaccinated,” he said, calling for international solidarity to increase their protection.
“I call on all governments to instead consider repeated tests for travelers, as well as other appropriate and truly effective measures”, also stressed Antonio Guterres. “This is the only way to reduce the risk of transmission while allowing travel and economic engagement,” he added.
The new strain of COVID-19 has been spotted on all continents but Europeans seem to be the most affected and have started, like other countries in the world, to tighten their health restrictions again, with border controls, bans to travel to southern Africa or the compulsory mask in transport and shops.