Tanzania says has not been officially notified about US travel ban
Saturday February 01 2020
Tanzania's president John Magufuli. Tanzania's government denies restricting media freedom and cracking down on democracy and human rights. FILE PHOTO | AFP
Tanzania said on Saturday it had not been officially notified by the United States about a travel ban after it was targeted alongside five other countries by President Donald Trump’s expanded travel restrictions on Friday.
Of the six new countries slapped with travel restrictions, four are African nations and three have Muslim-majority populations.
“We don’t have official communication from the US government. We haven’t received a formal diplomatic communication, which is the official way of communicating between governments,” Emmanuel Buhohela, spokesman for the ministry of foreign affairs, told Reuters.
US Democrats and immigration advocates have accused the Trump administration of seeking to expand its original 2017 ban that targeted Muslim-majority countries and of disproportionately focusing on African countries.
Tanzania also has a sizeable Muslim population.
Under the new travel restrictions, the United States will stop issuing “diversity visas” to Tanzanian nationals.
The visas are available by lottery for applicants from countries with low rates of immigration.