The United States has placed Nigeria on a list of countries facing partial travel restrictions, citing security and documentation concerns.
The White House announced this in a presidential proclamation issued on Tuesday, updating countries subject to full and partial travel restrictions.
Nigeria is among 15 mostly African countries affected by the partial travel suspension. Others listed include Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon and The Gambia.
The remaining countries on the partial restriction list are Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
According to the White House, Nigeria’s inclusion was based on security challenges and immigration compliance issues.
“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 statement said.
It also cited visa overstay rates, noting that Nigeria recorded a B-1/B-2 visa overstay rate of 5.56 per cent and an F, M and J visa overstay rate of 11.90 per cent, according to the U.S. Overstay Report.
Meanwhile, Turkmenistan was removed from the list after the White House said it demonstrated “significant progress in improving its identity management and information-sharing procedures.”
The proclamation also announced full travel restrictions on Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, citing the activities of terrorist organisations in the Sahel region.
South Sudan and Syria were also added to the list of countries facing full entry suspension.
The U.S. government said full travel restrictions on nationals of Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen would remain in force.
Laos and Sierra Leone, previously under partial restrictions, were upgraded to 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.
It added that the measures were necessary to prevent the entry of foreign nationals about whom the U.S. lacks sufficient information to assess security risks, enforce immigration laws and advance counterterrorism objectives.
