Travel restrictions imposed on passengers arriving from southern Africa are based on “aphrophobia” rather than science, said Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera.
In a post on his verified Facebook page, Chakwera said the world should be grateful to South African scientists for identifying the Ômicron variant of Covid-19 before others.
The president of Malawi, who is also chairman of the 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC), said everyone is concerned about the new variant of the coronavirus.
“But the unilateral travel bans now imposed on SADC countries by the UK, EU, US, Australia and others are unnecessary,” he wrote. “Cowardly measures should be based on science, not aphrophobia.”
Some Africans on social media blamed racism for the travel bans, pointing out that rich nations that also reported the Ômicron variant do not receive the same treatment.
South Africa’s Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation said in a statement on Saturday that the travel restrictions were “akin to punishing South Africa for its advanced genomic sequencing and ability to detect new variants more quickly ”.
Travel restrictions are harmful, says the South African president
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa also declared on Monday that the world needed to resist unjustified and unscientific travel restrictions, which mainly affect developing nations.
“We need to resist the unjustified and unscientific travel restrictions that are hurting economies and sectors of economies that depend on travel,” Ramaphosa said during a speech at the opening of the China-Africa Summit in Dakar.
Senegalese President Macky Sall, who was hosting the summit, responded that Africa was in solidarity with South Africa and that Africa “will not close its doors to South Africa”.
*With information from Reuters
**This article has been translated. Read the original in English
Reference: CNN Brasil
