Attempts by the army to dispel the rumours fell on deaf ears. In Nigeria in 2017 for instance, a reported vaccination drive that was to be conducted by the army led to pandemonium as students fled and boycotted classes, fearing the military was using the campaign as a ploy to infect schoolchildren with monkeypox. In many countries, there is an historic trust deficit between the military and communities. In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a lockdown of the whole country, an estimated 1.3 billion people, and authorities have said civilians risk being shot at if they do not comply with the lockdown order.įor Indian-administered Kashmir, which has been under lockdown for political reasons since August 2019, what does this mean? Is it possible to explain to people, and to expect them to understand, that suddenly the lockdown is meant to protect them and the rest of the country from a pandemic? We cannot, however, pretend that the military – not only in the countries mentioned above – has a good reputation if they have clamped down on communities numerous times in the past. They have done phenomenal work in many parts of the world as peacekeepers in protection of civilian sites and in response to natural disasters. Historic trust deficitĪs with institutions, the security forces are not a problem per se. The fact that the government-created COVID-19 Taskforce is led by the retired general responsible for the military coup in 2017 is enough to send chills up the spines of many. Today, the same military is expected to come in defence of the population against the pandemic. Last January, when the government raised the price of fuel by 150 percent, protests quickly turned violent as civilians and security forces clashed. In Zimbabwe, a 21-day army-enforced lockdown began this week. In Uganda, motorbike drivers were hospitalised after being shot by police for violating movement restrictions. Riot police previously fired tear gas at civilians heading for a ferry in Mombasa as they attempted to enforce a curfew. In Kenya, a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed by police while standing on his balcony in Nairobi during curfew. Similar stories have been reported across the continent. It has reportedly turned deadly in at least three cases. Although, to its credit, the government is also communicating with citizens regularly, the use of force has not helped build trust. Police went as far as firing rubber bullets at people who were going to the supermarkets – something deemed permissible as per the government’s regulations. ![]() So far, hundreds have been arrested by police for flouting isolation regulations many more, including the homeless, have been assaulted and harassed by security forces for failure to observe the order. More recently, memories of 2012’s Marikana massacre bring up more anxiety when officers with guns appear in an already heightened atmosphere. Memories of the military-enforced State of Emergency during apartheid are still fresh for many people. For many communities, especially in townships and high-density suburbs, the deployment of security forces means trouble. Last week, South Africa began a 21-day lockdown with the army out in the streets to enforce it. And everywhere from India to South Africa to the Philippines, states have deployed police forces and even the army to enforce them. ![]() It is no surprise that they try to be creative and use whatever means available to them to try and control the pandemic.įor most, the solutions have been isolation, quarantine and lockdown. ![]() But the reality in many countries – especially where security forces traditionally have a less than friendly reputation – is not as picture-perfect.Īs the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to shift fast, and continues to overwhelm health systems in the global north, it is clear for many countries in the global south that their best bet to limit the impact is prevention. The romanticised implication is that in the space between COVID-19 and its potential victims, it is medics and security services who push back together to save lives.Ī similar theory is at the root of the growing trend where the military and police enforce government lockdowns to contain the spread of coronavirus. On the right, a health worker in a hazmat suit closes the door on the coronavirus, while on the left a police officer in a medical mask pushes back a horde of people. There is a sketch doing the rounds on Twitter: Two people standing in the centre of a hallway, back towards one another, each struggling to push a different door closed.
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