For these interlinked border control and health dispositions to operate effectively, close coordination is necessary among all concerned government ministries, departments and agencies, particularly those responsible for migration management, foreign affairs and border control. Policymakers will also need to consult and liaise with both private sector travel and tourism establishments as well as affected migrant communities, to ensure that plans of action address their interests and concerns. It will, of necessity, sometimes be necessary to extend lines of cooperation to other governments.
There are also obvious capacity development needs that must quickly be addressed to ensure that border control and health officials have a proper grasp of their reciprocal responsibilities in the prevention and detection of, and response to, communicable diseases. For instance, border control officials may require training to be able to monitor sanitation and safety measures, conduct screenings or effect referrals to health services; alternatively, health specialists may be trained and embedded into border control teams to take care of these tasks.
In all cases, provision will have to be made for specialized equipment (especially protective gear), for data gathering, and for developing an across-the-board communication strategy to keep the public up-to-date with policy and procedures. It is impossible to overstate the importance of effective communication, to ensure that migrant populations are properly informed of risks, control measures in place and mitigation strategies. Information should be provided upon arrival and at departure, in an accessible language; it should be culturally appropriate and regularly updated in light of changes to policy and procedure.
Population mobility mapping (PMM) is a tool that complements traditional public health risk assessments and big data analysis on mobility. Its goal is to understand movement patterns and to identify the most vulnerable locations within and outside the border, in order to inform preparedness and prevention plans. The findings enable the government, communities and various actors to prevent the introduction or to limit the spread of infectious diseases and other public health threats that are directly affected by human mobility. As such, it enables more accurate prioritization of locations and public health interventions. It was used to combat the spread of the Ebola virus disease [IOM and Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), 2021].
Looking forward, in anticipation of the reopening of borders to international travel, several countries are considering the introduction of a digital “health passport” to attest to their citizens’ COVID-19-free status. Mobile technology could allow the capturing and sharing of relevant health information among border and health authorities of different countries. Existing cross-border information-sharing frameworks such as advanced passenger information (API) or passenger name records (PNR) could also prove to be of value (read more on API, PNR and other aspects of immigration intelligence systems in Regulating migration: Border management).
It should be remembered that the COVID-19 pandemic has confronted migration policymakers with challenges never encountered before, against a constantly evolving public health background. The situation has evolved considerably since the appearance of the virus on the global scene. It continues to change, often in unpredictable ways. In many countries there have been several cycles of rapid onset, successful mitigation and resurgence of transmission. From these experiences, some lines of intervention are most likely to persist, such as health checks at airports; quarantine for those testing positive or those who may have been exposed to the virus; and, increasingly, reliance on vaccination as a protective gesture. Additional policy innovations will inevitably have to be introduced in light of new developments.
