Asked by: Joan Ruddock (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what visa arrangements are being made for citizens of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea whose visas are expiring or expired and whose return flights have been cancelled by the relevant airlines.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that there should not be a general ban on international travel or trade to the countries affected by ebola. This is consistent with the position of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, whose advice for British nationals is that travel for essential reasons should continue. Nationals from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone whose flights have been cancelled but whose visas are expiring or expired are therefore expected to re-arrange their flights and leave the UK at the earliest opportunity.
However, the Government is monitoring the situation closely.