Libya Turning Away Visitors Without Arabic Translation Of Passport

Cairo, Egypt (AHN) - Travelers to Libya must attach an Arabic translation of their passport to be allowed into the country. Reports mentioned that hundreds of travelers coming from France and Switzerland were returned back to their home nations for failing to obtain the translated paper.

The required translated data include the information on the passport photo page, such as name, date of birth, issue date, expiry date and place of issue of the passport.

Libya receives around 300,000 visitors per year; a relatively small number compared to its neighbors Egypt, which welcomes over 10 million people per year and Tunisia, who welcomes about 6 million travelers.

These requirements had been discarded by the Libyan authorities in order to boost relations with the west in 2005, but returned November 11.

Libya was eager to increase number of tourists visiting since UN sanctions were lifted and ties with the European Union were improving.

Some Libyan citizens told reporters that the immigration authorities at Libyan airports were tearing apart the English data page in their passports, which would not allow them to enter westerns countries.