Cross-border / inter-state tensions

Border closures will negatively affect the availability of goods, the income of traders and the livelihoods of their families. It could also result in an increase in crime, and provide opportunities for exploitation by transnational organised criminal groups that specialise in smuggling and related criminal activities. In some cases border incidents, or other real or perceived actions or statements by states and border communities, can result in a deterioration of relations between states and border communities and, in extreme cases, in outbreaks of violence. All of these unintended consequences would have a negative impact on the ability of states to co-operate and co-ordinate their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.