Claim: “Liberia tops 2024 list of rejected U.S Department of State visas.”
Source: Diamond Online
Verdict: Correct, Liberia leads the list of Africa’s refused visas and ranks fourth globally.
Full Text: Diamond Online, a Facebook platform, claimed on Saturday, August 10, 2024, that the U.S. Department of State has released its visa refusal rate for the fiscal year 2023-2024.
According to the post, Liberia topped the list of most rejected Visas in Africa and is the 4th most rejected Visas in the entire world, at 78.19%.
As of the time of this check, the claim attracted 75 reactions, 73 comments, and 16 shares.
Verification: The Stage Media contacted Robert J. Clarke, Strategic Communications Specialist, Public Diplomacy Section, U.S. Embassy in Monrovia to verify this claim.
Clarke referred TSM to the State Department website. However, when further research on the website was done, it showed that the federated states of Micronesia, North Korea, and Palau scored 100% of the rejected countries in the world while Liberia scored 78.19 % making it the 4th on the list of rejected nations on the rejected visa list issued by the U.S. Department of State for 2023/2024.
America is Liberia’s traditional ally. The United States established diplomatic relations with Liberia in 1864, 17 years after it declared independence from the American Colonization Society (ACS), an organization that resettled free African Americans and freed slaves in Liberia.
A 1980 coup ended the rule of the party that controlled the country from its independence in 1847. From 1989 to 2003, the country saw continued misrule, rebellion, and civil war.
Rev. Torli H. Krua is the founder of the Free Liberia Movement. We contacted him to get his thoughts on the matter.
He said Liberia gained independence with the aid of the U.S. government. America’s contribution to Liberia was purposely to be used or controlled. Liberia’s relationship with America is just a mere thought.
Rev. Krua said the 1990 classified cable from the United States Department of State ordering racial discrimination and visa denial of Liberians as a result of their race and nationality is a clear violation of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.
“All Black people (enslaved as well as free Africans and Native Americans) who desired to visit America, which held ties and made contributions to the land long before the founding of the United States of America, along with the Blacks who also fought for their freedom during the American Revolution cannot be denied access to opportunities in America.”
That relationship welcomes people from countries all over the world with similar ties or contributions to visit their country and no law or man-made constitution is clothed with the authority to violate it.
He emphasized that the massive visa refusal of Liberia, which placed them as the first African and the fourth around the globe, clearly explained that the U.S. government controlled Liberia, disregarding their foreign policy. “America can do whatever they want.”
“One interesting fact about U.S. visa rejections for Liberians is their diplomatic relationship with the United States Government. Both countries’ diplomatic relationships do not appear to be effective or being implemented. The United States government denies visas to Liberia daily due to concerns about visa overstays, unstable economic conditions, and a large number of applications.
After denying Liberian citizens entry into America, the unlawfully collected funds must be immediately refunded with interest.
Conclusion: Based on the research conducted, we concluded that Diamond Online is correct about Liberia topping the list of rejected visas in Africa and being the fourth on the list in the world.
