N’Djamena— In response to a United States travel ban on its citizens on Thursday, the Republic of Chad suspended visa issuance to US nationals, the Chadian President Idriss Deby affirmed in a Facebook post.
“I have instructed the government to act in accordance with the principles of reciprocity and suspend the issuance of visas to US citizens,” President Deby said.
He stressed that “Chad has no planes to offer, no billions of dollars to give but Chad has its dignity and pride,” President Deby added, making reference to a widely talked about Qatar’s gift of a $400 million airplane to US President Donald Trump.
Chad’s decision is bold but also a rightful move and comes within the perimeters of the international law. The question is will other African countries
President Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday banning the nationals of 12 countries from entering the United States, saying the move was needed to protect against “foreign terrorists” and other security threats.
Africa is the continent worst affected by such travel ban with seven of the 12 countries on the list, including Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia and Sudan. The others include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Haiti, Iran and Yemen.
This is in addition to a number of other countries which will be subject to travel restrictions on their citizens including Burundi, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cuba, Laos, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
“We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm,” Trump said in a video posted on X. He said the list could be revised if “material improvements” were made or expanded in the light of “threats emerge around the world.”