Kenyans Banned from Visiting EU Nations as Europe Reopens Borders

Kenyans will not be allowed to visit any of the 31 European Union (EU) member countries after they reopen their borders on July 1st.

Starting Wednesday, the EU will lift border restrictions for its own citizens in a move aimed at saving the European tourism season in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Visitors from 14 other non-EU countries that are deemed ‘safe’ from Covid-19 will also be granted entry into the region.

Various factors were considered in picking the 14 nations including their response to Covid-19, the ability to apply containment measures during travel and whether they have lifted travel restrictions towards the EU, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

Kenya, which has so far confirmed over 6,000 Covid-19 cases and 144 deaths, is not included in the 14-nation list, which includes Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, and Morocco. Others are New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay.

The ban does not apply to citizens from ‘unsafe countries’ who are already living in Europe.

The EU indicated that China will be added to the “safe list” if it offers a similar travel deal to citizens from Schengen nations. 

British nationals are exempted from the temporary EU travel restriction until the end of the Brexit transition period at the end of the year.

US citizens are also still banned due to the country’s high number of Covid-19 infections. The US so far has 2,682,011 confirmed cases and a total of 128,788 fatalities.