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The White House justified the expanded travel bans because of armed attacks in the region it says the countries are struggling to get under control.
Two West African countries have imposed travel bans for U.S. citizens in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s own travel restrictions.
Mali and Burkina Faso’s foreign ministers said this week that they will no longer allow U.S. citizens into their countries. Mali’s foreign minister, in a statement, said the ban follows “the principle of reciprocity.”
“In accordance with the principle of reciprocity, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation informs the national and international community that, with immediate effect, the Government of the Republic of Mali will apply the same conditions and requirements to US nationals as those imposed on Malian citizens,” the foreign affairs office’s statement read.
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The statements referenced Trump’s expanded U.S. visa bans announced in December that included Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, South Sudan and Syria. They took effect on Thursday.
The extended bans came after a man from Afghanistan opened fire in Washington, D.C., killing two National Guard soldiers on Nov. 25.
Since June, the Trump administration labeled the more than a dozen countries it imposed travel restrictions as dangerous with citizens who “intend to harm Americans or our national interests.” It also has claimed that many of the countries included in the ban had false or unreliable civil documents and criminal records, making it hard to screen tourists entering the country.
For Mali and Burkina Faso, the administration has said the countries are struggling to contain persistent attacks by armed groups that have spread quickly in the region.
Burkina Faso and Mali join other countries that have issued their own reciprocal travel bans. In June, Chad, one of the original countries included in Trump’s visa bans, said it would accept only U.S. officials into the country.
In Trump’s first term, he largely targeted Muslim-majority countries under the so-called “Muslim ban.” So far in his second term, most countries subject to full or partial restrictions are in Africa.
Of the 39 countries subject to those bans introduced this year, 26 are African nations.
The full list of countries affected by full visa bans includes:
- Afghanistan
- Burkina Faso
- Chad
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Iran
- Laos
- Libya
- Mali
- Myanmar
- Niger
- Republic of Congo
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Syria
- Yemen
- Holders of travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority
Countries included in partial visa restrictions:
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Benin
- Burundi
- Cuba
- Dominica
- Gabon
- The Gambia
- Ivory Coast
- Malawi
- Mauritania
- Nigeria
- Senegal
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Tonga
- Turkmenistan
- Venezuela
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
