Rwanda has questioned the rationale used to add her to the list of nations whose citizens are banned from entering the United Kingdom.
On Friday, the UK added Rwanda and Burundi to the list of countries whose citizens cannot be allowed to travel due to fears of the new COVID19 strain.
“The government has today (28 January 2021) taken the urgent decision to ban travel to the UK from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Burundi and Rwanda to prevent the spread of the new variant originally identified in South Africa into the UK,” the United Kingdom announced.
However, Rwanda feels the action lack what it calls ‘scientific scrutiny’ instead making reference to other countries in the region even though the statement did not mention them.
“The Government of Rwanda has taken note of the UK Government announcement banning visitors who have been in, or transited through, Rwanda. Rwanda’s overall response to COVID-19 including testing, surveillance, contact tracing, containment, treatment and reporting has been consistent, transparent and corroborated by third party entities,” reads in part a statement by the Rwanda government.
It adds, “Considering the list of countries in the region affected and not affected by the ban, the sparse information communicated to Rwanda does not stand up to scientific scrutiny,” the statement adds.
The ban does not include British and Irish nationals, or third-country nationals with residence rights in the UK, who will be able to enter the UK but are required to self-isolate for 10 days at home, along with their household. Passengers returning from these countries cannot be released from self-isolation through Test to Release.
According to Rwanda, it’s unfair to impose the restriction on the East African nation yet it did not do the same when other countries were restricting travel for passengers from the UK.
“Notably, Rwanda did not join in the widespread bans on travellers from UK in December 2020 over the variant discovered in parts of the UK….The Government of Rwanda looks forward to receiving clarifications on the motivations behind this arbitrary decision of the UK Government.”
RwandAir flights to London are expected to be affected following the decision to ban travel from Rwanda. The carrier has been making flights to the UK since October after restrictions were relaxed.
The emergence of the more deadly and contagious variant of the Covid virus in South Africa has spread to countries like the US. Even when many countries around the world are launching a mass inoculation drive to fight the coronavirus, there are concerns whether the vaccines will be effective against the new strain that originated in South Africa.