Australia
has prompted outrage by becoming the first Western country to ban
visitors from Ebola-hit areas of Africa, amid warnings the restrictions
could make it harder to fight the deadly disease.
In
a dramatic move announced today, the government said it would refuse
entry to anyone travelling from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leona - the
countries most severely hit by the epidemic - despite there being no
known cases of the virus in Australia.
But a Sierra Leone official condemned the ban, describing it as 'counter-productive' and 'too draconian'.
Immigration
Minister Scott Morrison (left) said Australia would ban travel from
Ebola-hit parts of Africa - but UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (right)
has warned restrictions could hamper efforts to deal with the crisis
Liberia's
president urged Australia to reconsider its decision, while UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned travel restrictions could seriously
hamper efforts to beat Ebola.
The
unprecedented moves comes amid calls from Republicans for a travel ban
to be imposed in the U.S - something which has so far been resisted by
Barack Obama.
Announcing
the decision, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison told Parliament the
government's processes were 'working to protect Australians'.
Under
the strict regime, Australia will not issue new visas and will cancel
temporary ones. Those with permanent Australian visas yet to arrive in
the country will only be allowed to fly after a 21-day quarantine before
their departure.
Mr Morrison also announced the government would be suspending its humanitarian programme in the affected countries.
Ebola
has killed almost half of more than 10,000 people who have been
diagnosed with the disease. The World Health Organisation has warned the
actual death toll is a lot higher.
But
public health officials have urged against travel bans, warning it
could leave the stricken countries further isolated from international
aid.
They also warn it would not entirely prevent people in Ebola-hit areas from entering other countries.
Critics say the move will prevent the
stricken countries from getting the international aid they need to
recover from the epidemic. Pictured: Health workers in Liberia carry a
woman suspected of contracting the virus
Ebola has killed almost half of more
than 10,000 people diagnosed with the disease although the true toll is
far higher, according to the World Health Organisation
Alpha Kanu, Sierra Leone's information minister, said today that Australia's move was 'too draconian'.
He said that measures at Sierra Leone's Freetown airport had successfully prevented anyone flying out of the country with Ebola.
He
said: 'It is discriminatory in that...it is not (going) after Ebola but
rather it is ... against the 24 million citizens of Sierra Leone,
Liberia and Guinea. Certainly, it is not the right way to go.
'This measure by the Australian government is absolutely counterproductive.'
Anthony
Banbury, head of the U.N. Ebola Emergency Response Mission (UNMEER),
added: 'Anything that will dissuade foreign trained personnel from
coming here to West Africa and joining us on the frontline to fight the
fight would be very, very unfortunate.'
Barack Obama has so far resisted calls for a similar ban to be implemented on U.S. borders
Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Brian Owler also told CNN: 'It's not necessarily a very well-focused decision.
'The
bigger picture needs to be on our preparedness at home but more
importantly our involvement in West Africa itself, putting doctors and
nurses and other logistical elements in place and trying to combat the
crisis there.'
After the annoucement, Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf urged Australia to reconsider its travel ban.
She
said: 'Anytime there's stigmatisation, there's quarantine, there's
exclusion of people, many of whom are just normal, then those of us who
are fighting this epidemic, when we face that, we get very sad.'
Prime
Minister Tony Abbott has previously refused to send Australian medical
teams to help battle the epidemic in West Africa, until it has
guarantees that any Australian who becomes infected received adequate
medical treatment.
He said he was 'carefully considering' requests from the U.S and Britain to follow their lead and send workers.
Airport
checks have identified more than 800 people who entered Australia from
West Africa and who could have been in Ebola-stricken areas.
But none have required a hospital visit after arriving.
Meanwhile,
the growing paranoia in the U.S. has fuelled calls to impose a travel
ban and has become a bone of political contention.
Prominent
Republicans have called for a ban, including John Boehner, the House
speaker. But Mr Obama reiterated he would not impose a ban, unless
advice from experts changed.
There
are no direct flights from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea to the U.S
and only a handful of international flights to Europe. People flying out
of these countries are screened before they board a plane.
Earlier this week, North Korea announced it was closing its borders to international tourists because of concerns about Ebola.
A travel ban was never adopted in the 2003 SARS outbreak, although it affected about 8,000 people.
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