‘Fake’ passports and corruption in citizenship issuance cited as cause
Malawi joins list of conflict-ravaged Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sudan and others
Malawi is set to join a list of 42 other countries that will be placed on a travel ban by the US government, the New York Times has reported.
According to the publication, the Donald Trump administration is set to announce a list of new countries that it will place on a travel ban. The list, which has 43 countries, sees Malawi as one of the new entrants, mostly due to its new passports that have become a nightmare for holders.
In the report by the New York Times which has cited high placed sources, the Trump administration has categorised the list of banned countries into three. These are Red, Orange and Yellow. Each colour indicates the severity and limits of the bans.
Countries that are in the Red list will have all travel from there to the US banned. No visas will be issued to passport holders of those countries. The list has 11 countries which are Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.
According to the New York Times, the Orange list has a total of 10 countries. These are countries for which visas will be strictly restricted. The countries are Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan.
Meanwhile Malawi features in the Yellow category. This is a category in which the countries will be given 60 days to address concerns that the US has over the ways that they issue their citizenship as well as the safety in obtaining their passports. It is also said that some of the countries fail to share information concerning travellers from there with the US.
African countries are the major feature in this category of 22 countries in which Malawi is featured. In addition to Malawi, Zimbabwe is another country in the category together with Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo.
Other countries in the category include Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Vanuatu.
While the ban is yet to take effect, US president Donald Trump has been consistent in pointing out that he wants to restrict migration to the US. In his speech after taking office, Trump promised to cut down immigration so as to protect the US “from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.”
Malawi has been rocked with problems around its passport systems since it terminated its contract with Technobrain in 2021. The system was once compromised by hackers which led to the loss of passport data. A security expert who opted for anonymity said this could be the reason for the impending ban.
Since that hack, travellers have faced challenges with the passports. While others have been refused visas for allegedly holding ‘fake passports’ that were nevertheless officially issued by the Department of Migration, some have been refused entry into other countries as machines could not read their passports.
At least two Malawian citizens have dragged the Department of Immigration to court for the loss of business as well as humiliation they suffered when they were barred from travel or refused entry and subsequently deported for using what were called ‘fake passports’ issued by officials.
