The Covid-19 pandemic has been devastating for national economies around the world. But not for everybody. Some businesses have been boosted by the pandemic. Most well-known example is delivery services.
Unfortunately, restrictions put in place by all governments around the world to minimize the number of deaths from Covid-19 have caused more damage to the economies than the few examples of benefits.
When armed conflicts arise it is a recognized fact that the sooner the conflict can be solved and the armed conflict stopped, the easier it is to resume normal life for the people affected. If the conflict is allowed to go on without intervention, the conflict becomes a business. Soldiers will start relying on the income from the fighting to feed their families. Their leaders will start becoming dependent on the profit from selling supplies off on the black market. Traders of everything from supplies to arms will do what they can to keep the trade going.
But it is bad for the people.
If we do not watch out, this scenario is about to become true for Covid-19. I was alarmed to see governments across Asia jump to releasing new budgets to fight the latest Omicron variant at a time when nobody knew much about it. Has a Covid-19 food chain already taken root in our government administrations? Do our governments genuinely release new budgets to fight this battle or do they already feed a hungry food chain from the top to the bottom?
People need normalisation, not new restrictions and new demands. Because corruption is an ingrained element in governance in Asia we must blow the whistle and prevent Covid from becoming a new “secret armed conflict” before it is too late.
