Page - 399 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
Image of the Page - 399 -
Text of the Page - 399 -
399Spread
of Anti-Asian Racism: Prevention and Critical Race Analysis in Pandemic Planning
then, restrictions have both increased and loosened for various per-
sons travelling from the United States.22
Déjà vu: Restrictions Based on Fear
The racist reaction to the pandemic is not surprising. Public health
researchers have noted, “During the SARS outbreak, some persons
became fearful or suspicious of all people who looked Asian, regard-
less of their nationality or actual risk factors for SARS, and expected
them to be quarantined.”23 Further, “[o]ther infectious disease epi-
demics have been associated with specific ethnic groups,” such as the
bubonic plague and the Chinese community in 1900, and the hantavi-
rus infection dubbed the “Navajo disease” in 1993.24
Historically, immigration law in both Canada and the U.S. used
public health reasons to restrict immigration of Asians.25 The listing
of contagious diseases alongside requirements for detailed reports
of passengers on ships not only acted to exclude racialized migrants,
but contributed to the conflation of racialized persons with disease.
Racism has led to, and has been encouraged by, a number of exclusion-
ary policies toward racialized persons in Canada.26 The first example
is the tragedy of the Komagata Maru in 1914, a ship carrying 376 Sikh
passengers fleeing India.27 Canada refused entry of the passengers on
the ship and when the Komagata Maru returned to India, 19 persons
news/6711597/temporary-foreign-workers-travel-rules/>; see Minimizing
the
Risk
of Exposure to COVID-19 in Canada Order (Prohibition of Entry into Canada from
the United States), PC 2020-0161; Minimizing the Risk of Exposure to COVID-19 in
Canada Order (Prohibition of Entry into Canada from Any Country Other Than the
United States), PC 2020-0162.
22. See Minimizing the Risk of Exposure to COVID-19 in Canada Order (Prohibition of
Entry into Canada from the United States), PC 2020-0185, which imposed greater
restrictions on persons coming from the U.S. in general, including refugee claim-
ants; Minimizing the Risk of Exposure to COVID-19 in Canada Order (Prohibition of
Entry into Canada from the United States), PC 2020-0263, which loosened restric-
tions so that some persons coming from the U.S. can make refugee claims.
23. Person et al, supra note 1 at 358-59.
24. Ibid at 361-62.
25. Erika Lee, “The ‘Yellow Peril’ and Asian Exclusion in the Americas” (2007) 76:4
Pacific Historical Rev 537.
26. This essay acknowledges there are many other examples, including the intern-
ment of Ukrainian and Japanese people, and the refusal to allow the St Louis to
dock, a ship carrying Jewish refugees.
27. “The Incident” (last visited 29 May 2020), online: Komagata Maru: Continuing the
Journey <komagatamarujourney.ca/incident>.
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Title
- VULNERABLE
- Subtitle
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Authors
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Publisher
- Ottawa Press
- Date
- 2020
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Size
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Pages
- 648
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- International