Breaking| SA’s President calls to lift “unjustified” & “discriminatory” travel restrictions
Cape Town (QNN)- South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has called countries to lift travel restrictions that they imposed on South Africa, calling them “unjustified” and “discriminatory”.
During a speech addressing the people of South Africa, Ramaphosa said “the prohibition of travel is not informed by science, nor will it be effective in preventing the spread of this variant. The only thing the prohibition on travel will do is to further damage the economies of the affected countries and undermine their ability to respond to, and recover from, the pandemic.”
He said the ban was a deviation from a commitment that many of the countries made at the meeting of G20 countries in Rome last month.
Countries that have imposed travel restrictions on South Africa and some southern African countries include the United Kingdom, United States, European Union members, Canada, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Japan, Thailand, Seychelles, Brazil and Guatemala.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has on Sunday urged countries to follow the science rather than imposing flight bans in a bid to contain the new omicron coronavirus variant.
“With the omicron variant now detected in several regions of the world, putting in place travel bans that target Africa attacks global solidarity,” said WHO director general in Africa Matshidiso Moeti.
