The United States has added Nigeria to a list of countries facing partial travel restrictions, citing “security and documentation” concerns.
The White House announced the presidential proclamation on Tuesday, updating its list of countries facing full and partial travel restrictions.
Nigeria was among 15 mostly African countries, including Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, and The Gambia, slammed with a partial travel suspension.
Others listed are Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
“Radical Islamic terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State operate freely in certain parts of Nigeria, which creates substantial screening and vetting difficulties,” the White House said, justifying Nigeria’s addition to the list.
“According to the Overstay Report, Nigeria had a B-1/B-2 visa overstay rate of 5.56 percent and an F, M, and J visa overstay rate of 11.90 percent.”
Turkmenistan, which was previously on the list, was removed owing to a demonstration of “significant progress in improving its identity management and information-sharing procedures”.
The Sahelian states of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger are among five countries newly placed under full restrictions and entry limitations.
The White House cited operations of “terrorist organizations” in the countries as the reason for making the cut.
The other two additions were South Sudan and Syria.
Full travel restrictions on nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen remain in effect.
Laos and Sierra Leone, previously under partial restrictions, have now been placed under full restrictions.
“It is the President’s duty to take action to ensure that those seeking to enter our country will not harm the American people,” the White House said.
The proclamation added that the restrictions are necessary to prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the US lacks sufficient information to assess the risks they pose, enforce immigration laws, and counterterrorism objectives.
