Four African nations have been added to the nations facing stringent travel restrictions by United States president Donald Trump.
The African countries are Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria and Tanzania. The total number of countries on the restricted travel list now stands at 13.
Immigrant visas, issued mostly to foreigners intending to live in the United States, will be banned from Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea and Kyrgyzstan. The ban would prevent immigrants from Sudan and Tanzania from obtaining diversity visas. Homeland Security and State Department officials said some immigrants would be able to obtain waivers from the restrictions.
The proclamation, which President Trump signed on Friday, will take effect on February 22.
A United States government official said the administration was adding Nigeria and Tanzania to the list because of the number of people who come from the two countries on a visa and end up illegally staying in the United States. The official said Sudan and Eritrea had not satisfied the administration’s information-sharing requirements.
“We’re adding a couple of countries,” Mr. Trump said last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “We have to be safe. Our country has to be safe. You see what’s going on in the world. Our country has to be safe.”
There are speculations that the visa restriction, is an indictment of the Buhari administration’s failure to defeat Boko Haram, respect human rights and protect the rights of Christians and other citizens as Trump demanded during a White House meeting in 2018.
Recall The United States’ recently published blacklist of religious freedom violations report kept Eritrea listed whiles it removed Sudan. Nigeria along with Comoros were placed on a watchlist by the State Department.
Travelers en route to the U.S. will not be denied entry and those who already have visas or permanent residency will not be impacted by the new restrictions. Refugees, students, and temporary workers will still be able to travel to the U.S. after the restrictions go into place, the official said.
