Saudi Arabia and a number of African states have imposed travel restrictions on Europe — and unlike the Trump administration do not appear to have attracted any accusations of racism for doing so.
With Italy having become a coronavirus epicentre and other European countries including Britain and Germany expecting a huge percentage of the population to become infected, the Saudi government has imposed travel bans on the European Union and Switzerland, along with India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in South Asia, the Phillippines in the Pacific, and Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Sudan and South Sudan in Africa, according to the Hindu Times.
The Saudi regime has also imposed an internal quarantine on the Qatif oil region, which is home to many Shi’ite Muslims, and suspended G20 meetings and mass gatherings including pilgrimages and sporting events.
The number of confirmed cases in the kingdom, an absolute monarchy with theocratic elements, rose by 17 on March 13th to a total of 62.
African states have begun to take similar measures, asking travellers from the United States and 11 European countries to postpone travel to the country or face a two-week quarantine on arrival, according to the Globe and Mail.
Kenya and Zanzibar have also announced bans on travel from Italy, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo is imposing a 14-day self-quarantine rule on travellers from China, Italy, France and Germany.
Curiously, reporting on these Asian and African travel bans appears to have been reported in entirely neutral terms, while Western leaders such as U.S. President Donald Trump have been accused of racism and xenophobia for similar measures — or even for simply referencing China as the source of the coronavirus, or referring to it as “foreign”.
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