At least 55 governments in the past decade have restricted the freedom of movement of people they consider a threat, including journalists, according to a Freedom House report published Thursday.
Governments restrict freedom of movement through travel bans, revocation of citizenship, document controls and denial of consular services, the report said. All of the tactics are designed to coerce and punish government critics, according to report co-author Jessica White.
“This is the kind of tactic that really shows the vindictive and punitive nature of some countries,” Ms White said. This form of oppression “is an attempt to curb people's ability to speak freely from wherever they are.”
Belarus, China, India, Nicaragua, Russia, Rwanda and Saudi Arabia are among the countries that engage in this form of oppression, the report said. Freedom House based its findings in part on interviews with more than 30 people affected by the restriction of freedom of movement.
Travel bans are the most common tactic, according to the Freedom House report co-author, which identifies at least 40 governments that prevent citizens from leaving or returning to the country.
Denial of citizenship is another strategy, despite being prohibited by international law. The Nicaraguan government in 2023 revoked the citizenship of more than 200 political prisoners shortly after their deportation to the United States.
Among them was Juan Lorenzo Holmann, head of Nicaragua's oldest newspaper, “La Prensa”.
“I feel like I don't exist anymore. This is another attack on my human rights,” he told VOA after his release. “But you can't take away a person's personality. The Nicaraguan constitution says you can't erase a person's personal data or take away their citizenship. I feel like a Nicaraguan and they can't take that away from me .”
Before being deported from his country, Lorenzo had spent 545 days in prison, which was widely seen as a politically motivated decision.
Blocking access to passports and other travel documents is another tactic. In one example, Hong Kong in June canceled the passports of six pro-democracy activists living in exile in Britain.
In some cases, governments do not issue passports to people to trap them in the country. And in cases where the individual is already abroad, embassies do not renew their passports to block their travel to other countries, including repatriation. The Myanmar embassy in Berlin, for example, has not renewed the passport of writer Ma Thida, who lives in Germany. Ma Thida told VOA earlier this year that she believes the refusal to renew her passport is in retaliation for her writings.
Report co-author Jessica White said the case of writer Ma Thida is a classic example of restrictions on freedom of movement. For now, the German government has issued a reserved passport to people unable to obtain a passport from their home country, a decision Ms White welcomed but said was a rare practice.
“Our ability to freely leave and return to our country is something that in democratic societies, people often take for granted. It is one of our basic human rights, but it is undermined and violated in many parts of the world,” Ms White said.
Restrictions on freedom of movement can have devastating consequences, including difficulties in employment, travel and family visits. What makes matters worse is the emotional fallout, Ms White says.
“It has a huge psychological impact,” says Ms White. “Many of the interviewees mention in particular the pain of separation from family members and the impossibility of returning to their country.”
In the report, Freedom House called on democratic governments to impose sanctions on governments that engage in restrictions on freedom of movement.
Freedom House report co-author Jessica White says democratic governments should do more to help dissidents, including providing them with alternative travel documents if they cannot obtain them from their countries of origin.
