The central African nation is home to an abundance of
wildlife, including pangolins, elephants, chimpanzees and gorillas,
increasingly threatened by poaching and trafficking, often to Asia and the
Middle East.
The State Department said the eight Congolese nationals had
been sanctioned under Washington’s Immigration and Nationality Act, which means
they could be barred entry to the United States.
The act “targets wildlife and timber traffickers who are
believed to be, or have been, complicit in or involved in trafficking in
wildlife, wildlife parts, or products”, it said in a statement Monday.
“This visa restriction policy is designed to further disrupt
the movements and business of transnational criminal organisations involved in
wildlife and timber trafficking by making it harder for them to smuggle illegal
wildlife and timber,” it added.
“Wildlife and timber traffickers are not welcome in the
United States”.
Illegal poaching and trafficking have been exacerbated by
the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with unrest often
erupting in the mineral-rich east.
Nature reserves are frequently caught up in the fighting,
putting vulnerable species at risk.
AFP
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