Immigration Minister Scott Morrison
Australia has prompted world wide outrage by becoming the first Western country to ban visitors from Ebola-hit areas of Africa, amid warnings the restrictions could make it harder to fight the deadly disease.In a dramatic move announced on Tuesday, the government said it would refuse entry to anyone travelling from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leona - the countries most severely hit by the epidemic - despite there being no known cases of the virus in Australia.
Liberia's president urged Australia to reconsider its decision, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned travel restrictions could seriously hamper efforts to beat Ebola.
The unprecedented moves comes amid calls from Republicans for a travel ban to be imposed in the U.S - something which has so far been resisted by Barack Obama.
Announcing the decision, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison told Parliament the government's processes were 'working to protect Australians'.
Under the strict regime, Australia will not issue new visas and will cancel temporary ones. Those with permanent Australian visas yet to arrive in the country will only be allowed to fly after a 21-day quarantine before their departure.
Mr Morrison also announced the government would be suspending its humanitarian programme in the affected countries.
Ebola has killed almost half of more than 10,000 people who have been diagnosed with the disease. The World Health Organisation has warned the actual death toll is a lot higher.
After the annoucement, Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf urged Australia to reconsider its travel ban.
She said: 'Anytime there's stigmatisation, there's quarantine, there's exclusion of people, many of whom are just normal, then those of us who are fighting this epidemic, when we face that, we get very sad.'
Earlier this week, North Korea announced it was closing its borders to international tourists because of concerns about Ebola.
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