When the news of Omicron variant being detected in South Africa hit last Thursday, a horde of countries rushed to impose new travel bans.
Britain was quick to add not just South Africa, but also other supposedly at-risk countries like Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini, to its red list. Anyone arriving from these countries in the UK has to quarantine in a hotel for ten days.
This sudden turn of events has put thousands of international students in the UK in limbo, as they can no longer visit their families over Christmas and face the prospect of not being able to see them for a long time.
Students have had to cancel flights, and the enforced separation is already taking its toll on some.
24-year-old Afrah Mayet from Johannesburg, who studies Contemporary Art Theory at Goldsmiths University shared: “I already suffer from anxiety and this hasn’t helped in the slightest. I’ve struggled with making friends in the UK and I was late to start my course because of the previous red list rules in September 2021, so I never got the chance to integrate fully into friendship groups at university. This has left me feeling quite lonely but I was really looking forward to going home and being around the people I love, which is no longer an option”.
Zandi Mlotshwa, a 22 -year-old Media and Communications student who is from Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, said while she wasn’t planning a trip home, she’s aware others have been affected by the rules.
“I know a lot of people who were intending on visiting family, attending weddings and funerals. Now they’re not sure when they’ll be able to do that.”
Some have pointed out that the UK government’s move is unfair as these countries have far lower COVID cases than the UK itself. Yesterday, South Africa reported 8,500 daily cases while Zimbabwe recorded just 712, whereas the UK has more than 50,000 cases a day.
“It’s curious that the countries that have been placed on the ‘red list’ are countries recording very few deaths. It feels more like imperialism than anything else”, Zandi added.
Afrah said the UK’s entry rules are exclusionary and completely uninformed. “I am incredibly angry at the UK government’s rash and overtly racist decision. It feels like SA fought to be removed from the red list in September only to be put right back on the list at the first chance the UK got.
She continued: “Some news headlines say that Omicron was in Europe before it was in SA and yet southern African countries are the only countries with travel bans.”
Belgium, which detected the variant around the same time, did not face the same consequences.
African leaders condemned the bans, in the light of the vaccine inequality around the world which they hold rich nations responsible for.
Several Africans on Twitter claimed the world is punishing African countries for their proactiveness at reporting new variants, stating that the travel bans could deter more countries from reporting outbreaks in the future.
South Africa and Botswana have exceptional sequencing capabilities due to our countries histories with HIV/AIDS and now we are being punished for our abilities to detect variants and for communicating those. Other parts of the world are seeing new waves too… #redlist
— Jodi Allemeier (@urbanjodi) November 26, 2021
Students are also concerned that their loved ones back home are left to deal with this potentially dangerous variant by themselves, while they helplessly witness its spread from a distance.
Reflecting on the uncertainty about what the future holds for them in London, Zandi said: “I’m taking it day by day. Talking to my mum and sisters on the phone helps… but who knows what variant will compel the government to ban next?”