Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Trump administration’s latest decision to add 20 countries to a list of travel restrictions has hit Africa the hardest. The new restrictions expand on the list from June and are broader and more punitive than those during Trump’s first presidency, which largely targeted Muslim-majority countries and which were reversed in 2021.
The African Union urged the United States to protect its borders in “a manner that is balanced, evidence-based, and reflective of the long-standing ties and partnership” between the U.S. and Africa, the bloc’s spokesman Nuur Mohamu said. The stance was a repeat of the statement by the bloc in June, when U.S. President Donald Trump revived the travel restrictions from his first term in office.
Of the five countries whose citizens joined the list on December 17 from entering the United States, four are in Africa — Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and South Sudan, which was already facing significant travel restrictions. Also on the list are Syria and people with travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority, which runs the West Bank. Some other countries — including Sierra Leone in Africa and Laos in Asia — were subject to partial restrictions during Trump’s first presidency and also in June, and were now moved to the full restrictions list.
Twelve of the 15 countries that face partial restrictions are also in Africa. They include Angola, Benin, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The rest are two Caribbean nations — Antigua and Barbuda, and Dominica — and Tonga in the South Pacific.
The 55-nation African Union warned of the “potential negative impact of such measures on people-to-people ties, educational exchanges, commercial engagement, and the broader diplomatic relations” built over decades. Several analysts and activists described the measures as unfair, a sign of incoherent US–Africa relations and an opportunity for Washington’s rivals such as Russia and China to further entrench