US PUTS CURFEW ON AMERICANS IN BURUNDI
(Posted 02nd November 2014)
Burundians were swift in condemning the ‘NO WALKING AFTER DARK, NO USE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT’prohibition order as a massive over-reaction when information came to light that the US State Department and the US Embassy in Bujumbura had put out such a stark warning. At the same time did the warning state that all non-essential travel to Burundi should be postponed as a result of Al Shabab threats to target Burundi.
Additional warnings were sounded not to travel outside the capital Bujumbura, dealing a heavy blow to the efforts of the Burundian tourism board to promote the country.
This comes in the wake of recent showings of geographical ignorance by several American news channels which continue to get locations wrong and perpetuate the image that Africa is a Country and not a continent with over 50 countries, a continent large enough for the combined sizes of North America, China, Russia, India and large parts of Europe.
In neighbouring Rwanda were two tourism stakeholders swift to condemn this latest anti-travel warning with one, prior to leaving for London and this year’s WTM, saying tongue in cheek: ‘Maybe one day they will simply prohibit foreign travel, full stop. But very soon they will then issue anti-travel advisories against themselves to avoid all places of high crime in America. Does anyone really bother any longer about such things? We live in a dangerous world but life continues. In fact many of us see such warnings as the completion of the work of terrorists because the result is that tourism can be made to collapse like in Kenya and then Al Shabab for sure will be most grateful that someone completes their work’.
Wide parts of Eastern Africa have been under one or another anti-travel advisory, by the US, the UK and other western countries and combined with the Ebola scare, perpetrated largely through extremely poor reporting standards, has tourism taken a beating across the region in terms of arrival numbers and revenues.
It is understood that Burundian government sources have urged the US to tone down their warnings about visiting the country if not removed them altogether, but from experience it can be said that such efforts are generally wasted on the powers that be in Foggy Bottom and White Hall.
