3 ms·

So what if New Zealand is an island? How many people are walking to Sweden?

renewiltord 6y ago
That's actually a fair point. Why does the islandness matter?
Mediterraneo10 6y ago
Few people might be walking on foot to Sweden (though in Tornio/Haparanda, some do walk over the border), but Sweden has land borders with two countries and a bridge to a third. Traffic has continued to move over those border crossings during the time of the pandemic. In fact, there has been a steady flow of traffic over most European border crossings along major motorways, though that traffic has consisted of only drivers and passengers who could show they are moving around for work purposes etc. The only common way into New Zealand is a flight or an occasional ship. NZ has no immediately neighboring countries that it runs freight trucks to and from day in and day out, and it doesn't need to move large numbers of agricultural workers around internationally. Therefore, for New Zealand traffic is obviously going to be smaller and easier to control than European countries.
- mkl 6y ago
  NZ does rely on quite a few seasonal workers from overseas. Some are currently stuck here: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300025484/seasonal-workers-in-nz-when-cyclone-harold-struck-are-desperate-to-get-home https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300025484/seasonal-workers-... That article says 14,000 workers/year from just the Pacific. Not sure of the total, and it's probably not large by European standards. Our borders have been very effectively closed the last few weeks though. The fact that 56 Avatar film crew people have just been let in (on a chartered flight, after testing negative, and now spending 14 days in quarantine) has been quite contentious: https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/121681820/avatar-crew-touch-down-in-wellington-in-historic-flight-from-la https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/121681...
- roca 6y ago
  You can close roads and bridges. You can punish people who try to cross in secret. There may be reasons why you would choose not to close the borders, but it's a choice.
kalleboo 6y ago
In southern Sweden, people are still daily commuting to/from work in Denmark over the bridge and ferry connections

That's actually a fair point. Why does the islandness matter?

Few people might be walking on foot to Sweden (though in Tornio/Haparanda, some do walk over the border), but Sweden has land borders with two countries and a bridge to a third. Traffic has continued to move over those border crossings during the time of the pandemic. In fact, there has been a steady flow of traffic over most European border crossings along major motorways, though that traffic has consisted of only drivers and passengers who could show they are moving around for work purposes etc. The only common way into New Zealand is a flight or an occasional ship. NZ has no immediately neighboring countries that it runs freight trucks to and from day in and day out, and it doesn't need to move large numbers of agricultural workers around internationally. Therefore, for New Zealand traffic is obviously going to be smaller and easier to control than European countries.

mkl 6y ago
NZ does rely on quite a few seasonal workers from overseas. Some are currently stuck here: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300025484/seasonal-workers-in-nz-when-cyclone-harold-struck-are-desperate-to-get-home https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300025484/seasonal-workers-... That article says 14,000 workers/year from just the Pacific. Not sure of the total, and it's probably not large by European standards. Our borders have been very effectively closed the last few weeks though. The fact that 56 Avatar film crew people have just been let in (on a chartered flight, after testing negative, and now spending 14 days in quarantine) has been quite contentious: https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/121681820/avatar-crew-touch-down-in-wellington-in-historic-flight-from-la https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/121681...
roca 6y ago
You can close roads and bridges. You can punish people who try to cross in secret. There may be reasons why you would choose not to close the borders, but it's a choice.

kalleboo 6y ago

In southern Sweden, people are still daily commuting to/from work in Denmark over the bridge and ferry connections