The coronavirus pandemic triggered the imposed travel bans around the world. But even before this pandemic, there were many travel bans imposed in countries around the world. For example, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have imposed many travel bans on activists, journalists, writers, and women’s rights activists. Simply put, the people who were opposing the government were not allowed to travel.
On top of this, not only their right to free movement has been violated, but many others have. They faced unfair trials, they were detained, and they were not allowed to conduct their job or to protest peacefully. However, now with the war in Ukraine, Russians are facing travel bans across the whole of Europe and the world. So, what is the impact of the travel ban on civil rights?
Civil Rights
Before delving into the effects of travel bans on civil rights, let’s find out more about civil rights. What are the civil rights everyone has? Does every citizen of every country have these civil rights? Well, not every country has these civil rights, but the majority of them do. Civil rights are an essential component of any democratic country and most of them have the same ones. This is one of the topics any law student will delve deeper into during their classes in university.
As a college student, you need to take part in this school lesson, but also write assignments on themes related to it. The civil rights research papers and topics is quite extensive today and contain many discussions. But before this, any teacher will share the civil rights all democratic countries have. There is the right to public education, to vote, to have access to government services, and to a fair trial. Any citizen should have these rights, no matter their gender, religion, race, and so on. However, it is crucial to make the distinction between civil rights and human rights. In contrast to civil rights, human rights are inherited naturally. Civil rights are given and guaranteed by the state.
Travel Bans Impact
Everyone suffers from the travel ban impact. Before the pandemic, there were many countries, non-democratic, that imposed travel bans on everyone opposing the government and its rules. Women and human rights activists, journalists, and even writers from Saudi Arabia or Egypt have been the subject of travel bans.
Of course, their civil rights were not respected, but this topic is under the spotlight, especially in these non-democratic countries. However, with the outbreak of the global pandemic, an international travel ban was established. People were not allowed to travel anymore, but they had to spend time in their homes. They could not meet with their friends and families; students could not go to school or college. Basically, everyone had to spend time in their homes, apart from the essential workers such as those in the healthcare system.
The impact was tremendously severe. Even though, for example, some colleges have managed to create and use online platforms to continue delivering education, its quality might be affected. Getting live education is distinct compared with the virtual one. But, at least, they managed to respect the civil rights citizens in democratic countries have.
However, not all schools were able to do this, especially those in poor villages and areas that were not supported by the government. The same goes for children and students that come from poor families that do not afford to buy the equipment they need to take part in classes from a distance, for example, tablets or laptops.
Final Thoughts
Citizens who live in democratic countries have civil rights that are given and guaranteed by the state or government. They should be respected in every condition and context. However, the travel bans established by countries around the world during the pandemic outbreak severely affected civil rights.
Everyone has the right to public education for example, but having to be confined in your own home for a few months prevented some citizens from getting an education. Especially students who come from poor families who do not afford to purchase the necessary equipment for taking part in virtual classes. Civil rights are not respected now in many countries, where people who are opposing the government do not have a fair trial and face travel bans.
