Ebola in West Africa – different islands, different rules

The outbreak of Ebola in some West Africa countries has prompted different levels of responses and reactions across much of Africa.

While Kenya Airways has bowed to public pressure at home and halted flights to some of the worst affected countries, Ethiopian Airlines continues to operate a full schedule to and from these destinations. Major Gulf airlines also continue to fly to the affected countries.

In Eastern Africa, health authorities have introduced a screening process for arriving passengers, or passengers in transit, who now have to fill out forms verifying their travel movements before arrival and where in particular, attention is being paid to those with elevated body temperatures. Several cases were reported in the local media that individuals were taken into isolation wards and tests carried out before every single one was eventually released to continue their travel plans after they were found to be Ebola free after relevant tests were carried out.

But perhaps most glaring are the different responses across the Indian Ocean Vanilla islands, where measures range from mere advisories over stricter visa requirements to actual bans for travelers to and from the affected West African countries.

Starting with Madagascar, where no travel restrictions apply as yet and where visas continue to be issued in accordance with pre-Ebola practice, there is no indication at present that nationals from affected countries are being deliberately denied a visa.

The same is the case for the Comoros islands, from where no special measures have been reported to keep the affected nationalities out, though a visa has to be obtained in accordance with the rules which were in place prior to the Ebola outbreak.

The French island of Reunion has for now only given a travel advisory to residents of the island to avoid all but essential travel to the affected countries but has not taken measures to regulate arrivals via added visa policies against citizens of the affected countries, although a French European entry visa is required where on a standard Schengen visa the addition ‘and Reunion’ has to be marked. It is understood that for the French region of Mayotte, the same rule, like for Reunion, does apply.

The Seychelles already took measures several weeks ago to have citizens from affected countries apply for a visa before travel to the archipelago, something which pre-Ebola was not the case.

This includes Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali, Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Congo, DRC, Gambia, Mauritania, and Senegal.

Seychelles has in addition implemented travel restrictions for Seychellois citizens to Ebola-affected countries. No Seychellois nationals will be allowed to travel to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, or the DRC without the express permission of the Public Health Commissioner until the epidemic has officially been deemed to be over by the World Health Organization (WHO). Also, travelers from these countries will not be allowed to enter Seychelles until the epidemic has been deemed over.

Mauritius has now followed suit along the lines of the Seychelles when it announced that the government of Mauritius has introduced a temporary travel ban on entry for all nationals from Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the recent cases of Ebola in these countries.

While the saying applies better safe than sorry, the WHO continues to point out that restrictive measures should be lifted because of the minimal risk, but emphasis being on the word minimal, and top brass having in recent weeks made differing statements, no one can really blame countries taking active measures to keep the virus out of their territory by any available means.

Meanwhile, a trend is emerging for Africa that travel to and across the continent will this year take a hit as a result of the Ebola outbreak and the half-year figures by the UNWTO has shown that travel to Africa is down compared to past years, a major blow for economies which depend on tourism income for employment and foreign exchange earnings. One thing is for sure though, the peak of the outbreak in West Africa is yet to be reached, and it may well be months rather than weeks before the situation is brought under control and the WHO and the CDC can give the all-clear for the affected countries. Travelers to any of the Indian Ocean islands are advised to ensure in advance of travel if any special measures have been put in place and, where deemed necessary, should consult consular offices or the health authorities for clarification to avoid any disappointment on arrival.