US President Donald Trump has confirmed he is bringing back the travel restrictions he introduced during his first term in office, banning tourists from 12 countries from entering the US from next week.
The Executive Order he signed on Wednesday also restricts travel to the US from seven other countries.
From 9 June, tourists from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen will no longer be allowed into the US.
Partial travel restrictions will apply to nationals of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
Lawful permanent residents, athletes travelling for the World Cup and Olympics, those who have already been granted asylum or refugee status are exempt from the travel restrictions, along with those with immediate family member visa, dual citizenship with a non-restricted passport and United Nations and NATO visas.
The restrictions are reminiscent of the travel bans Trump introduced during his first term, which he initially described as an explicit attempt to ban Muslims from entering the US. In a statement from the White House, Trump said: “We will restore the travel ban, some people call it the Trump travel ban, and keep the radical Islamic terrorists out of our country.”
The President described his ‘powerful travel restrictions’ as ‘one of the most succcesful policies’ of his first term. He said they had been a ‘key’ part of preventing terror attacks in the US. “We will not let what happened in Europe happen in America,” he said.
The list is subject to revision, added Trump, warning that other countries could be added.
