Curfews are imposed in many countries. According to multiple sources including the BBC and CNN, many countries including, but not limited to, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nigeria imposed curfews in the 2020s. Curfews were also imposed in many countries including Thailand earlier driven by armed conflicts and several other reasons. Curfews, which are imposed in response to security threats and other reasons, help address security concerns and bring peaceful situations many times, though they cannot do so always in different countries. Curfews sometimes failed to bring peace in different countries including — but not limited to — India (India-administered Kashmir) and Myanmar. But curfews also bring diverse negative outcomes in many countries, leading to concerns.
It is notable that curfews bring economic and other negative outcomes. Curfews lead to the deaths of many that are avoidable many times. According to multiple sources, many civilians are killed both intentionally and unintentionally during curfews in different countries. Additionally, they impact various economic activities by restricting or reducing the time of businesses, which in turn undesirably leads to the loss of billions of dollars and remarkably impacts the economy of the given countries and the lives of mass people. Among others, curfews also hamper diverse social and cultural activities. But the longer duration of the curfews leads to more negative economic and other impacts. The impacts of curfews imposed also depend on the situations under which they are imposed.
Various steps are taken to reduce the harmful effects of curfews on the mass people, leading to positive outcomes. Unnecessary shootings on those who violate the rules and regulations of curfews are avoided many times, leading to less number of deaths of people. Among others, opportunities are also given to people to carry out their economic and other activities many times, though the time given is less and mostly depends on the situation, along with allowing different sorts of emergency services including health care services and providing the freedom of movement of media personnel, in many countries during curfews. But there are diverse limitations in the harm reduction steps — leading to various avoidable negative outcomes many times.
There remains the absence of effective efforts to avoid indiscriminate shootings on civilians many times, leading to an increased number of avoidable deaths, though they are more in those curfews which are imposed during armed conflicts. In different countries including Myanmar indiscriminate shootings during curfews led to several deaths. Among others, curfews are lengthened without any reason and there is limited scope for economic and other activities many times. Though it is definitely difficult to relax the rules and regulations especially in those curfews which are imposed during intense security threats or severe conflicts, steps are consequently vital to reduce the negative impacts of curfews in different countries as much as possible.
Emphasis needs to be given to the application of international humanitarian laws in terms of shootings on protesters. Providing more scope and time for economic and other activities is helpful. The curfews need to be withdrawn as early as possible depending on the situation. But it is vital to address the underlying reasons that lead to the imposition of curfews in many countries. Addressing the addressable economic, political and other concerns will reduce the need for imposing curfews many times. For this, political talks between the parties involved are vital.
Amir M Sayem
Chief Editor
Dhaka Opinion Magazine
