The United States Government is reportedly considering a new round of travel restrictions that could affect citizens from 36 countries, including Nigeria and 24 other African nation.
This follows a memo from U.S. State Department, according to The Washington Post, an internal memo signed by Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, said, 36 countries might be affected by the travel ban If President Trump approves it.
The Trump administration cited lack of government transparency and a proper data base to freely vet the backgrounds of travellers from these countries as a reason for the incoming ban, amid efforts by the government in Washington to reduce Immigration to the United States.
The new list includes: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Others are Antigua, and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Out of 36 countries on the list, 25 are from Africa, including America’s two closest military allies on the continent, Egypt and Djibouti.
The countries in the new list are also expected to submit to the State Department on Wednesday an initial plan of action to meet the new requirements.
United States authorities said some of the countries in the list had no competent or cooperative central government authority to produce reliable identity documents or other civil documents.
The countries according to Trump government, might also have suffered from “widespread government fraud, and others had large numbers of citizens who overstayed their visas in the united States.
The planned ban followed similar restrictions placed on nationals from 12 countries – Myanmar, Afghanistan, the Republic of Congo, Chad, Eritrea,, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Haiti, Somalia, Libya, Yemen and Sudan – by the United States earlier this month.
-9News Nigeria.
