The United Kingdom will remove the travel red list that has pitied it against African countries who saw the decision as “discriminatory” and “unjustifiable.”
The government has said that all 11 countries will be removed from the UK’s travel red list from 4am on Wednesday, putting an end to the diplomatic controversy the decision has stirred.
Late November, the UK announced it has placed Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe on a red list to prevent further spread of Omicron, the newest covid variant, from these countries.
The travel ban was widely condemned especially in Africa, with the UN calling it “travel apartheid.” The UK had earlier said it will not reverse the decision even as countries like Nigeria threatened to reciprocate.
However, the health authority is changing its mind as the UK becomes the epicenter of Omicron variant. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said it had spread so widely the rules no longer had much purpose.
“Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad,” he told Parliament.
“Whilst we will maintain our temporary testing measures for international travel we will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list effective from 4am tomorrow morning.”
Besides the racial discrimination it portends, the travel restriction brought additional financial burden upon travelers. All UK arrivals from red list countries are required to pay for and self-isolate in a pre-booked, government-approved hotel for 10 days.
The BBC reported that some travelers had paid thousands of pounds to stay in government-approved quarantine hotels, with complaints of chaotic organization and inedible food during their stays.
But with all 11 countries being removed from that list, it was confirmed that those currently in managed quarantine would be allowed to leave early and “follow the rules as if they had arrived from a non-red list country,” the report said.
While the government claimed that it put countries on the red list to act quickly to slow the spread of Omicron, targeting African countries belied the decision. It also supported the belief that the restrictions were geopolitical not scientific as many western countries with rising Omicron cases were exempt from the red list.
The hospitality industry has joined voices with African leaders who called for the travel ban to be lifted. Tim Alderslade, head of trade group Airlines UK, said emptying the red list made “complete sense” but that the government should also scrap the remaining travel restrictions.
Last month, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called the travel restrictions “hasty” and “discriminatory,” adding that it will dent countries’ chances for economic recovery.
“The only thing the prohibition on travel will do is to further damage the economies of the affected countries and undermine their ability to respond to, and recover from the pandemic,” he said.
