EU Visa Restrictions on Ethiopian Citizens Come into Force

Today, June 1, EU visa restrictions on Ethiopian citizens officially came into force. On 29th April 2024, the Council of the European Union EU announced restrictions on the issuance of visas to Ethiopians. The council in a statement said that it had decided “to temporarily suspend certain elements of the EU law that regulates the issuing of visas to Ethiopian nationals.”

The European Union has put a temporary ban on Ethiopians getting visas because they believe the Ethiopian government is not accepting enough refugees. This decision has taken effect from today, 1st June 2024. The European Union is doing this because they want to control the number of illegal migrants.

The EU has introduced new visa rules for Ethiopians. Under these rules, Ethiopians will not be allowed to obtain multiple-entry visas, and those with diplomatic or service passports will need to pay for visas.

The EU imposed this restriction because Ethiopia has not accepted the required number of refugees. EU wants Ethiopia to accept 4500 refugees, despite repeated requests, Ethiopia has only accepted 555 citizens from Europe over the past three years, which led to this decision.

On 1st May 2024, the Ethiopian Embassy in Brussels issued a statement and expressed dismay at the EU Council’s decision to impose restrictions on the issuance of visas to Ethiopians.

“The Council’s decision does not take into consideration the strong cooperation between Ethiopia and the European Union that has helped in returning and reintegrating Ethiopian nationals. The decision fails to take into consideration the painstaking process that takes place to establish the identities of nationalities,” it said. Read More…

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