The U.S. government on Wednesday banned travel to the United States from eight southern African countries after they failed to reduce corruption and improve the living conditions of their citizens.
Until Nov. 1, travelers from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Somalia may not visit the United States without a “credible explanation” of why they should. The White House said in a statement that it determined that these countries “continue to pose risks to U.S. citizens.”
The United States has a long history of criticizing corruption in the countries on the list, and American lawmakers had debated whether to bar nationals from certain countries from traveling to the United States for years. The countries included on the list have significant diplomatic or military relationships with the United States.
In January, the U.S. imposed travel restrictions on the entire list of African countries in order to crack down on the flow of ivory trafficking.
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Correction: A previous version of this story stated that the country of Madagascar was on the ban. It is actually one of the countries listed on the ban.