By Grace Q. Bryant
The Government of Liberia has suspended with immediate effect, the July 2023 Revised Passport Regulations and reinstated the March 2016 Passport Regulations.
Without even allowing the government’s measures to resonate among those involved or the Liberian populace, the U.S. Embassy thanked Liberia’s Foreign Minister and noted that this commitment aims to address the issue of fraudulent travel documents advances not just Liberia’s national security but that of the international community.
In its short-worded acknowledgement, the Embassy located near Monrovia said it welcomes the latest measure taken by the Government of Liberia to ensure all diplomatic, official, and service passport holders meet official eligibility requirements.
Meanwhile, speaking at the MICAT’s regular press briefing yesterday, March 18, Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti disclosed that all those bearing diplomatic, official and service passports with the duration of more than two years are hereby requested to return them to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, commencing Tuesday, March 19, with an end date of April 18.
She called on all Liberian citizens and non-Liberians who are not eligible for diplomatic, official and service passports, to kindly return the passports to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, regardless of duration of validity period, noting that “Those passports will be cancelled with immediate effect.”
Minister Nyanti added that all those with multiple diplomatic, official, and service passports are hereby informed that those extra passports will be cancelled with immediate effect.
“If you have any questions or if you have information that justifies you having multiple diplomatic, official and service passports, kindly contact the Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” she maintained.
The Foreign Affairs Minister emphasized that reissuance of diplomatic, official and service passports will be based on eligibility.
She revealed that the cost of the replacement of the said passports will be free to citizens, with costs borne by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“For those outside of the country who are holding diplomatic, official or service passports that need to be replaced, kindly report to the nearest Liberian Embassy or Consulate,” she disclosed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said regrets any inconvenience that this action may cause to Liberians at home or abroad, as this exercise has become necessary for national security concerns and cannot be delayed or deferred.
She observed that the suspension of the most recent revision of a regulation that previously allowed privileged passports to remain valid for six years was done in order to reinstate the previous regulation, which had a two-year validity for all privileged passports, including diplomatic, official, and service passports.
“As an administration, we believe that six years is too long a period for individuals to hold onto these passports, especially given our national security concerns and the challenges we face with the passport system,” she said.
The Foreign Affairs Minister explained that the exercise is aimed at ensuring that only the appropriate individuals have access to these passports and that their validity is restricted to two years, which is the norm for most countries, stating, “This is not a restrictive policy, but rather a measure to protect Liberia’s security interests until we can strengthen the system and review the most recent revision.”
She disclosed that they will confirm the eligibility of individuals with privileged passports listed in the database who have not yet been verified explaining, “Those who are eligible will be reissued passports, while those who are not eligible will have their passports canceled. We acknowledge the previous scandal and other issues related to our passports, which have affected their integrity.”
She informed that it is crucial to strengthen the passport process to ensure that government officials and all Liberians can travel without any issues.
“Currently, our mobility index is low, with only 29 countries that we can travel to without a visa. Moreover, our passport integrity index is also low. Therefore, we must work on improving both these indices simultaneously to provide better mobility to Liberians and ensure that our passports are trustworthy,” she expressed.
