You might assume that having unlimited wealth would grant you the freedom to travel anywhere in the world. However, that is not always the case, as visa restrictions and regulations can prevent even the wealthiest individuals from travelling freely.Â
Various factors, such as political tensions, security concerns, and diplomatic relations, can lead to visa bans that affect people regardless of their financial status. One often hopes for the freedom to travel around the world without financial tensions and restraints. But sadly, that is not the case anymore. It appears that there are even more powerful entities in the world than money itself, which impose different regulations on people, preventing them from visiting their countries. These powerful entities refer to the laws established by countries such as the US and the EU. The governments have their reasons, sure, but are those reasons valid and just? Or are they there only for the optics?
In reality, the situation is a combination of both factors. On one hand, such states enforced visa bans for diplomatic, political, and security purposes, but they also enforced them because it is a more efficient and cost-friendly way of controlling who enters the country without deploying unnecessary military and artillery. And the reasons for the visa bans are even more vast.
The aim of visa bans
Visa bans are specifically aimed at the elite, political leaders, and military officials, and for that, they ban a whole country from entering a state so as not to target someone in particular. For instance, the U.S. denied entry to the Russians following their invasion of Ukraine, obstructing numerous individuals from visiting their loved ones. Other than that, visa bans act as a symbolic way of warning the countries of their ways that do not align with the powerful state. Instead of deploying the whole military or going to war with a country over some conflict, states like the US and the EU have come up with a clever way of telling the countries that they do not like their ways of governing, laws, or foreign relations. This approach also makes the relationship between states and countries publicly visible.
Myanmar was banned from entering the US and the EU
If we take the example of Myanmar, in February of 2021, the Myanmar military staged a coup to overthrow the democratically elected government, an act that was widely condemned internationally, and as a result, the US and EU banned Myanmar nationals from entering their states for any purpose whatsoever. Because of the military invasion, the country faced mass killings, crimes against the people, and several airstrikes on civilian areas. Primarily, the government officials, such as the president, Win Myint, and other officials and their family members, were banned from entering the US and the EU, and asset freezes and other sanctions were imposed, sending a clear signal of their views on the political situation in Myanmar.
The US and EU seem to have found a clever and efficient way to signal their relations with the targeted countries so that other states are also aware of them and their power. They also found an easy way to control who enters the state, maximising the safety and security of their own people without deploying armed personnel everywhere. They also found a way to maintain pressure on the states without actually sending their armies. So, in a way, even if the visa bans are just for appearances, they still do the job pretty well by promising what they intended to do. And that is to show a sense of the upper hand of the US and EU over many countries.
A way to make a change
However, for these policies to genuinely promote justice within the system, they must challenge the established norms that perpetuate violence, injustice, and inequality. If the visa bans are just for show, then such policies are misused more than usual. They serve as a lever for the powerful rather than a means of removing the injustices of the opposing states, and in between the chaos of the powers of the government officials and establishments, the true reason for the visa ban policies is usually lost. Used well, visa bans can check injustice; used poorly, they risk becoming little more than geopolitical theatre
