No fewer than 55 governments have implemented restrictions on freedom of movement for individuals they consider threats, such as journalists, over the past decade, according to a Freedom House report released on Thursday.
These governments employ various tactics, including travel bans, revoking citizenship, document control, and denying consular services, to coerce and punish critics.
These actions reflect the vindictive and punitive nature of certain regimes, according to Jessica White, a London-based co-author of the report.
“This is a type of tactic that really shows the vindictive and punitive nature of some countries,” White commented. She added that such repression “is an attempt to really stifle peoples’ ability to speak out freely from wherever they are.”
The report highlights countries like Belarus, China, India, Nicaragua, Russia, Rwanda, and Saudi Arabia as notable examples of states that engage in these forms of repression.
Freedom House’s findings are partly based on interviews with over 30 individuals who have been affected by mobility restrictions.
Travel bans emerged as the most prevalent tactic, with at least 40 governments identified as preventing their citizens from leaving or returning to the country. This strategy is frequently used to control and silence dissenters.
Another method used by these governments is revoking citizenship, which, despite being prohibited by international law, remains a tool of repression.
A stark example is Nicaragua, where the government in 2023 stripped over 200 political prisoners of their citizenship shortly after deporting them to the United States.
Among those affected was Juan Lorenzo Holmann, the head of Nicaragua’s oldest newspaper, ‘La Prensa’.
Reflecting on his experience after being freed, Holmann said, “It is as if I do not exist anymore. It is another attack on my human rights. But you cannot do away with the person’s personality. In the Nicaraguan constitution, it says that you cannot wipe out a person’s personal records or take away their nationality. I feel Nicaraguan, and they cannot take that away from me.”
Before his expulsion, Holmann had spent 545 days in prison in what was widely regarded as a politically motivated case.
Governments also block access to passports and other travel documents as a means of control. In one instance, Hong Kong authorities in June canceled the passports of six pro-democracy activists living in exile in Britain.
In some cases, governments refuse to issue passports to individuals, effectively trapping them within their country’s borders.
For those already abroad, embassies may deny passport renewals, preventing them from traveling anywhere, including returning home.
A case in point is Ma Thida, a Burmese writer in exile in Germany, whose passport renewal was denied by Myanmar’s embassy in Berlin. Ma Thida believes this refusal is in retaliation for her writing.
White noted that Ma Thida’s situation is a quintessential example of mobility restrictions.
While the German government has issued her a special passport reserved for individuals unable to obtain one from their home country, White pointed out that such actions by democratic governments are still rare.
“Our ability to freely leave and return to our home country is something that in democratic societies, people often take for granted. It’s one of our fundamental human rights, but it’s one that is being undermined and violated across many parts of the world,” White emphasized.
The consequences of these mobility restrictions are profound, impacting the ability to work, travel, and visit family.
The emotional toll can be particularly devastating, with White highlighting the “huge psychological impact” of these measures.
Many interviewees in the report spoke of the pain of being separated from family members and being unable to return to their homeland.
In its report, Freedom House urged democratic governments to impose sanctions on those responsible for enforcing mobility controls.
White also called on these governments to do more to support dissidents, including providing alternative travel documents when individuals are unable to obtain them from their home countries.
