Leading African beauty queens fear they could be left out of this year’s Miss Universe competition due to difficulties obtaining a US visa, after Donald Trump restricted travel for dozens of foreign countries.
Roseanna Hall, who is set to represent Zimbabwe in the 75th edition of the international pageant, said this week she was struggling to get the necessary authorisation to travel to the United States to take part in the competition.
“Today is the day that I was supposed to be leaving for Puerto Rico ... but unfortunately, due to the partial ban on Zimbabwe and other nations by the United States, we have been back and forth trying to get my visa approved,” she said.
In a video posted to social media on Sunday, Ms Hall said that she was aware of other African competitors who had been facing “the same challenges”.
“I am not alone in this predicament. Some of my African sisters are facing the same predicament, and I know exactly what they are going through,” she said.
Pamela Mubanga, who had been due to represent Zambia, reportedly withdrew from the competition due to trouble obtaining a visa.
The Miss Universe organisation in Zambia said in a statement that Ms Mubanga, 25, had had to pull out due to the US’s “presidential travel restriction affecting Zambia and other African countries”, according to the BBC.
Another five African countries had been affected, the broadcaster reported.
Miss South Sudan, Amylia Deng, also suggested it was uncertain as to whether or not she would make the pageant.
“We’re in the same situation,” she commented under Ms Hall’s video. “It’s 50/50 whether we’ll make it to Miss Universe. Hopefully ... we both make it.”
Only two days prior, the Miss Universe pageant had congratulated Ms Deng on social media for making history as the nation’s first ever representative in the competition. The country became the world’s newest country in 2011.
Contestants have been flying in to Puerto Rico, a US territory in the Caribbean, since November 8 for registration ahead of the finale on November 24.
But travel arrangements have been hampered by Donald Trump’s presidential proclamation 10998 on restricting and limiting the entry of foreign nationals.
The order, which took effect in January, saw the US suspend or limit entry and visa issuance to nationals of 39 countries and people using travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority.
The State Department fully suspended visas for people from 19 countries, which included Afghanistan, Burma, Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
It partially suspended visas for people from another 19 countries, which included Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cote D’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The Independent approached the State Department for comment.
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