Why are some African countries banning US citizens from entry?

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Mali and Burkina Faso person announced they are imposing afloat visa bans connected United States citizens successful retaliation for US President Donald Trump’s prohibition connected US visas for their citizens this month.

The 2 West African countries, which are some governed by the military, connected Tuesday became the latest African nations to contented “tit-for-tat” visa bans connected the US. These travel Trump’s new visa restrictions, which present use to 39 countries successful Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. The White House said they were imposed connected “national security” grounds.

Which countries person issued bans connected visas for US citizens?

The US directive issued connected December 16 expanded afloat US visa bans to citizens of 5 nations different than Mali and Burkina Faso: Laos, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Syria.

Travellers holding question documents issued by the Palestinian Authority were besides banned from entering the US nether the order.

The US cited the countries’ mediocre screening and vetting capabilities, information-sharing policies, visa overstay rates and refusal to instrumentality backmost their deported nationals for the ban.

Trump’s bid besides noted countries were additionally assessed based connected whether they had a “significant violent presence”.

The US prohibition takes effect connected Thursday.

Mali, Burkina Faso and neighbouring Niger person been plagued by unit from equipped groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) for years. The unit successful those countries has displaced millions of civilians.

On Friday, Niger banned introduction for US citizens, besides citing the US prohibition connected its citizens. The state is besides military-led similar its neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso. All 3 formed the Alliance of Sahel States successful July 2024 to tackle information problems and amended commercialized relations.

In its ain reciprocal move, Chad stopped issuing visas to US citizens connected June 6 with an objection for US officials. Only US citizens who were issued visas earlier June 9 are present allowed introduction into Chad.

The state was connected an archetypal database of 12 nations whose citizens the Trump medication issued a afloat visa prohibition connected from June 9.

Which countries are affected by the US visa bans?

Citizens of 39 countries are present nether afloat oregon partial introduction restrictions to the US, according to the US-based Council connected Foreign Relations deliberation tank.

Those afloat banned are:

Afghanistan
Burkina Faso
Chad
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Haiti
Iran
Laos
Libya
Mali
Myanmar
Niger
Republic of Congo
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Sudan
Sudan
Syria
Yemen
Holders of question documents issued by the Palestinian Authority are besides afloat banned.

Those partially restricted are:

Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Benin
Burundi
Cuba
Dominica
Gabon
The Gambia
Ivory Coast
Malawi
Mauritania
Nigeria
Senegal
Tanzania
Togo
Tonga
Turkmenistan
Venezuela
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Is Trump specifically targeting African countries with visa bans?

Trump’s attack to Africa regarding visa entries successful his 2nd word arsenic US president is akin to that of his archetypal medication erstwhile helium issued a “Muslim ban”, which included citizens of 3 African nations – Somalia, Sudan and Libya – arsenic good arsenic Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

In aboriginal updates to the ban, Sudan was removed portion Chad was added.

Most countries nether US introduction restrictions since Trump took bureau connected January 20 are successful Africa. Of the 39 affected countries, 26 are African nations.

How person US-Africa commercialized relations fared nether Trump?

Tradewise, the US has shifted distant from its preferential African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) commercialized programme to a tariff-based authorities that has besides been applied to astir different countries astir the satellite nether Trump’s tariffs policy.

From 2000, AGOA provided African nations with duty-free entree to US markets, bolstering African exports to the US of a wide scope of goods, from vino to cars.

AGOA created an estimated 300,000 jobs successful African countries and indirectly sustained different 1.2 cardinal jobs, according to the US-based Center for Strategic International Studies.

However, AGOA expired successful September aft the US Congress failed to renew it. Although the Trump medication said it supported a one-year extension, nary steps person been announced to revive the programme.

Instead, African countries present look often steep tariffs arsenic the US sometimes justifies them connected governmental grounds.

South Africa, Africa’s richest country, for example, was slapped with a 30 percent tariff aft Trump made debunked allegations of a “genocide” connected the country’s achromatic Afrikaner minority. The US authorities has since prioritised resettling Afrikaners arsenic refugees successful the US.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met with Trump astatine the White House successful May and explained that transgression successful the state targets the colonisation astatine ample – not conscionable its achromatic citizens – but was incapable to transportation Trump.

Trump’s medication is besides prioritising its entree to captious uncommon world minerals, utilized to make high-tech devices, successful a bid to stay competitory with China, which mines astir 60 percent of the world’s uncommon world metals and processes 90 percent of them.

Trump took up a mediator relation successful the struggle betwixt the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighbouring Rwanda this twelvemonth aft the DRC authorities projected a minerals woody with the US. The US and United Nations impeach Rwanda of backing a rebellion by the M23 equipped radical successful the eastbound DRC.

Trump did not perpetrate to US subject involution successful the DRC but successfully secured a peace pact betwixt the 2 countries connected December 4 aft applying diplomatic unit connected Rwanda.

Attacks connected civilians by M23 person nevertheless continued contempt the bid deal.

A clause successful the pact granted US firms precedence entree to some the DRC’s and Rwanda’s mineral reserves, which see cobalt, copper, lithium and gold.

How astir assistance and information cooperation?

In aboriginal 2025, the Trump medication unopen down the US Agency for International Development and cut billions of dollars of US overseas aid, affecting galore African countries that greatly depended connected the world’s largest funder of wellness and humanitarian aid.

Aid groups person since reported rising hunger successful northern Nigeria, Somalia and northeastern Kenya.

Health observers and analysts person besides raised the alarm astir the hazard of undoing enactment to forestall and incorporate the dispersed of HIV successful Lesotho and South Africa.

In bluish Cameroon, officials person reported a spike successful malaria deaths arsenic cause supplies fall. This month, the US unilaterally pledged $400m successful wellness backing to the state implicit the adjacent 5 years connected the information that Cameroon raises its ain yearly wellness spending from $22m to $450m.

African nations were besides astir affected erstwhile Trump recalled 30 vocation diplomats appointed by erstwhile President Joe Biden from 29 countries past week.

Fifteen of them had been stationed successful African nations: Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Madagascar, Mauritius, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia and Uganda.

Meanwhile, the US has continued to intensify strikes against equipped groups linked to ISIL and al-Qaeda, akin to those during Trump’s archetypal word arsenic president from 2017 to 2021.

In Somalia, the US launched strikes successful September targeting al-Shabab and the ISIL affiliate successful Somalia Province, according to the US-based New America Foundation deliberation tank.

The US besides targeted ISIL- and al-Qaeda-linked groups in northwestern Nigeria for the archetypal clip connected Thursday.

While those strikes were carried retired successful collaboration with the Nigerian government, a warfare of narratives prevailed betwixt the 2 countries.

The US claims to beryllium “saving” Nigerian Christians, who it alleges are experiencing a genocide.

Nigerian authorities, connected the different hand, contradict claims of genocide and accidental radical of each religions person been severely affected by equipped groups operating successful the country.

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