Unwilling to sit back while countries refuse to accept their deported nationals back, the United States has levied sanctions against four nations for failing to cooperate.
The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that Cambodia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Eritrea are being sanctioned “due to lack of cooperation.”
The most severe sanction — a pause in the issuance of B visas for business and tourism — will be leveled against Eritrea. In Cambodia, high-level government officials and their immediate family members will be denied access to business and tourism travel.
In Guinea, the issuance of student and cultural exchange visas to certain government officials and family members will be suspended, along with B visas. In Sierra Leone, officials in the country’s foreign ministry and immigration offices will be denied business and tourist visas. (Politico)
President Trump signed an executive order in January that directs the Secretary of State to negotiate with “recalcitrant countries” that refuse to accept their deported nationals. Sanctions must be imposed by DHS and State on countries that fail to cooperate, the executive order stated.
“The United States itself routinely cooperates with foreign governments in documenting and accepting its citizens when asked, as do the majority of countries in the world,” acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke said recently. “However, these countries have failed to do so, and that one-way street ends with these sanctions.”
If the targeted countries still do not cooperate DHS said the sanctions could be expanded.
“Without an appropriate response from the impacted countries, the scope of these sanctions may be expanded to a wider population,” DHS said in a written statement.