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Fear of Ebola leads Tuilaepa to bar Sierra Leone from Samoa for Youth Games

Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has called his decision to deny entry to young athletes from Sierra Leone who had wanted to compete in the Commonwealth Youth Games, which will officially be opened today, a decision of love.

 

 “The undeniable fact is that Ebola was rampant in Sierra Leone with a lot of people dying swift and painful deaths, and it would be irresponsible if we allowed them to enter the country when we cannot be 100 percent sure that the virus has completely gone,” Tuilaepa explained in his weekly radio program.

 

“As hosts, we are responsible for the well-being of the nearly two thousand athletes and officials who will be participating in the games, and especially our own people. So you see, it is a decision of love for the safety of everyone concerned because it is always better safe than sorry.”

 

The prime minister’s decision did not sit well with the delegation from Ghana, and they called on the Commonwealth Games Federation in their meeting in Auckland, New Zealand on Wednesday, to impose sanctions against Samoa.

 

However, the Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, David Grevemberg, defended the prime minister’s decision saying, “It is Samoa’s sovereign right to decline Sierra Leone athletes entry to the country because of fears over the Ebola virus.”

 

“As the Prime Minister has rightfully said, he and his government, and of course their advisors and of course the advice they have sought, need to take into account what’s best for the country, in terms of safety and security. We’re very sorry for the athletes not being able to attend but this is something we’re going to need to address with small states and island states as we move forward, but the Federation needs to respect the sovereignty of the state and what a government feels is in the best interests of their people,” David Grevemberg told Radio New Zealand.

 

In his weekly radio program on Thursday, Tuilaepa further justified his decision by referring to Samoa’s first real experience if mass viral infections in 1918 when 22 percent of its population was wiped out because a ship carrying the Spanish influenza virus was allowed to dock at Matautu wharf.

 

“The number of our people who perished in that epidemic remains one of the highest in recorded mortality rates by the World Health Organization,” Tuilaepa said. “So we know what we are talking about here. There is absolutely no room for complacency.”