Mobility Rules Shift Leaves Learners from Nearly 20 Nations in Limbo

 United States President Donald Trump’s proclamation of a complete and partial travel ban preventing citizens from 19 countries across Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America from entering the US, came into effect on 9 June.

The complete travel ban will put approximately 19,000 international students at risk of losing access to US universities.

Iran is most affected, with 12,430 students studying in the US, followed by Myanmar (3,222), Haiti (883), Afghanistan (702), according to data from the Open Doors 2024.

The latter report indicated that 1,433 African students will be impacted, with Sudan worst affected (398 students), followed by Libya (365), Equatorial Guinea (234), Congo (180), Somalia (117), Eritrea (73) and Chad (66). Additionally, 256 students from Yemen will be impacted.

The partial restriction will also impact approximately 5,000 students, with Venezuela’s students (3,904) on the top, followed by 824 African students from Sierra Leone (385), Togo (240) and Burundi (199), along with 180 students from Turkmenistan, Cuba's students (117), and Laos’ students (114).

Besides completely restricting entry to the US by nationals from 12 countries, the proclamation also includes partial restrictions to seven other countries.

The complete travel ban will affect seven African countries, namely, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia and Sudan, along with two Middle Eastern countries, namely Yemen and Iran, as well as Haiti, Myanmar and Afghanistan.

The partial restriction affects three African countries, namely, Burundi, Togo and Sierra Leone, plus Cuba and Venezuela from Latin America, and Laos in Southeast Asia and Turkmenistan in Central Asia.

Visas issued before 9 June will not be revoked, the order said.

Trump described the ban as a matter of national security. The Executive Order states that the countries targeted are those “for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a full or partial suspension”.

Other reasons cited include the alleged breaking of US visa rules by people from the countries in question.

This proclamation order echoes Trump’s controversial 2017 travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries.

Iran denounced the proclamation, describing it as “discriminatory” and a “violation” of international law, according to a report by Kurdistan 24.

Alireza Hashemi Raja, director general for the Department of Iranian Affairs Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, issued a statement asserting that the decision undermines core principles of international law, including non-discrimination and basic human rights.

The African Union Commission issued a statement on 5 June saying it “remains concerned about the potential negative impact of such measures on people-to-people ties, educational exchange”.

“While recognising the sovereign right of all nations to protect their borders and ensure the security of their citizens, the African Union Commission respectfully appeals to the United States to exercise this right in a manner that is balanced, evidence-based, and reflective of the long-standing partnership between the United States and Africa,” the statement said.

Speaking to University World News, Ahmed Alduais, Yamani postdoctoral fellow at the faculty of social and educational sciences of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, criticised the new ban as a form of “coercive exclusion of entire populations based on the actions or instability of their governments”.

“The ban directly undermines human resource development by severing access to higher education, research collaboration, and academic mobility.”

He said it disproportionately affects individuals from politically unstable or economically disadvantaged nations.

Pattern of academic marginalisation

But for Yemeni academics, the new US travel ban merely formalises a long-standing pattern of academic marginalisation, he said.

Dr Abdullatif AlMunifi from the faculty of engineering of Sana’a University in Yemen told University World News: Unfortunately, fellowships, scholarships and other exchange programmes were suspended years ago because of the fragile situation in Yemen. Therefore, no additional impact to what already happened.

James Otieno Jowi, the founding executive director of the Kenya-based African Network for Internationalisation of Education ANIE, told University World News: “This development will impact negatively on HE collaborations between the USA and the affected countries, as it will bring academic mobility to a halt.”

He said a number of countries affected by the ban are in the middle of or just emerging from conflict, with weakened higher education systems.

“While these affected countries could have been looking for global cooperation to enable them, rebuild and strengthen their systems, the travel ban dampens some of their efforts,” Jowi indicated.

He suggested that students from the affected countries would seek opportunities with other key players in internationalisation, especially Europe, China and India, but perhaps even South America.

He added that despite the physical ban on travel to the US, there remained opportunities for digital collaboration between universities and academics.

Strengthening alternative academic partnerships

Walid Gashout, president of the Higher Education Students Foundation in Libya, told University World News: “As Libya is already in a critical phase of rebuilding its educational institutions, this restriction adds another layer of difficulty to its academic development and global engagement.

“It underscores the urgent need to strengthen alternative academic partnerships, especially with non-Western countries and regional allies.

“Africa must respond by strengthening local higher education, enhancing regional partnerships, and building bridges of collaboration with alternative global powers,” Gashout suggested.

Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, a professor in global thought and comparative philosophies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, said Africa should invest in an educational infrastructure that is self-sufficient and globally linked to non-legacy countries, especially in the Global South.

“Such efforts could be institutionalised via the African Union or global intergovernmental institutions such as BRICS.”

South-South travel options

Professor Mohamed Hassan, president of the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences (SNAS), told University World News that the complete or partial ban affecting 10 African countries “restricts talented African scientists from studying at leading US universities” and harms US host institutions that benefit from diverse perspectives in scientific research.

“Many of these students typically secure jobs in the US, contributing further to advancements in science. Consequently, the ban is unlikely to have a significant effect on their home countries.”

A former president of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in Italy, he said as an alternative, African students can take advantage of world-class universities in the Global South, such as the postgraduate programmes offered by the World Academy of Sciences, which provide postgraduate fellowships to African students at top institutions in China, India, Brazil, and South Africa.

But if African countries are to reduce the exodus of talented African students and researchers, they must enhance their education and research quality, ensuring that more universities meet international standards and attract students to study at home, he said.

Unite behind Agenda 2063

Professor Vincent Titanji, honorary dean of the faculty of science at the University of Buea in Cameroon, told University World News that the ban was not surprising, given the unflattering opinion of the African continent held by the current US president.

Titanji, who is a fellow at the Kenya-based African Academy of Sciences and the Italy-based World Academy of Sciences, said African countries should unite around the Agenda 2063 of the African Union and invest more in science and technology for the sustainable development of the continent.

This would include funding the African Scientific, Research and Innovation Council (ASRIC), of which he is a former vice-president, “to play its role fully”.