When COVID authoritarianism met border authoritarianism

Edward Alden and Laurie Trautman : Countries responded to COVID-19 with travel restrictions because they were popular and relatively easy to enforce.

They say they inflicted damage internally too, infringing on citizens' rights and going hand in hand with domestic restrictions.

Alden : Governments drew the line between "essential" and "nonessential" reasons to cross borders in ways as arbitrary and dehumanizing.

Authors: For the first time, governments used the tools they had wielded against asylum seekers and other vulnerable migrants.

Authors: The European Union initially tested tougher border controls in response to a migrant crisis, not a public health threat.

They say real solutions require far more thought and nuance than turning the state's power on people unlucky enough to be caught on the wrong side of a border.