The coronavirus pandemic has uncovered the possibilities, as well as the confines of internet and communication technologies, as millions of people around the world are homebound, employees are teleworking, students are taking virtual classes, and information on social media platforms about the novel coronavirus abounds.

As the coronavirus spreads globally, the pandemic raises formidable challenges for prison administrations and governments. If – or rather, when – the virus gets into prisons, it will be nearly impossible to stop it from spreading rapidly on the inside.

Rights groups in Cairo are calling on the Egyptian government to immediately release prisoners for fear that an outbreak of COVID-19 could threaten the lives of thousands imprisoned in Egypt.

Every country has struggled to come to terms with the reality of a deadly pandemic. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei’s first reaction was to call coronavirus a “ridiculous disease” used as a pretext by Iran’s enemies to discourage people from voting in parliamentary elections.

As a whole, the Arab World doesn’t produce enough food to feed its growing populace. One by one, each Arab country faces a different set of limitations, including natural resource endowment and production constraints, which impact the ability of nations to weather food-price shocks.

In a country like Egypt, where basic rights are severely stifled, there are many rights-related ramifications during a public health crisis. One of the most urgent is the impact on vulnerable groups, such as those in closed, densely crowded prisons.

Former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali famously warned in 1988 that the next war in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) would be over water—not oil.

Last month, courts in Egypt ruled in favour of closing down local Shia TV channels and websites. Despite a previous decision to annul the verdict, it was overturned by the state council judiciary.

Sudan has rejected an Arab League resolution, expressing support for Cairo in negotiations with Addis Ababa on Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a move that raised eyebrows in the Arab League and alarmed Egyptian authorities.

Parliament approved amendments to the Law to Regulate Terror Group and Terrorist Lists and the anti-terrorism law on February 24.