TY - JOUR T1 - Mere rhetoric? Using solidarity as a moral guide for deliberations on border closures, border reopenings and travel restrictions in the age of COVID-19 JF - BMJ Global Health JO - BMJ Global Health DO - 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006701 VL - 6 IS - 7 SP - e006701 AU - Diego S Silva AU - Carly Jackson AU - Maxwell J Smith Y1 - 2021/07/01 UR - http://gh.bmj.com/content/6/7/e006701.abstract N2 - Summary boxSolidarity, and the rhetoric of solidarity, is commonly used by world leaders in the context of global efforts to control COVID-19.Solidarity is a relational value that means that persons in positions of power stand with others, usually marginalised persons, for the sake of justice.Marginalised persons and communities are best positioned to know what is important to them. As such, solidarity means leading with governments of low-income and middle-income countries on COVID-19-related matters.Therefore, solidarity means that decisions regarding the continued use or easing of international and regional travel restrictions must be made together by high-income, middle-income and low-income countries.Every government is responsible for, and accountable to, its own people. But Member States can only truly keep their own people safe if they are accountable to each other at the global level.- Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, 74th World Health Assembly, 31 May 20211As we enter the second half of 2021, the global health community continues to be vexed by the following question: what justifies states’ continued use of international travel restrictions, including border closures, during the COVID-19 pandemic? The corollary to this question is: with declining case counts in a handful of countries and more than 2.25 billion vaccines administered globally, at what point, and under what conditions, is the reopening of state borders and the reduction of travel restrictions justified? The answers to these two questions are multifaceted and includes being clear on a country or region’s epidemiology and the legal obligations of states. However, answering these questions must also balance ethical values that are often implicit and underpin these scientific and legal deliberations. Arguably, the primary ethical challenge in this context is upholding the right of sovereign states to protect their residents and reduce the risk of spreading SARS-CoV-2 while respecting the generally accepted … ER -