Octopath Travel Ban: New ‘banned’ countries get new travel restrictions

It’s been a long time coming, but the United Kingdom and Colombia have finally got their travel restrictions lifted, at least for the time being.

The ban was in place for 90 days and has since been removed.

While it was originally put in place to prevent terrorism and illegal immigration, the U.K. and Colombia are now seeing a rise in violent crimes due to the new restrictions, as reported by the BBC.

As of Monday, Colombia is no longer on the list of countries that can’t travel to the U, and a U.S. visa has been issued to all tourists from the country, although U.N. experts say there are still some questions about the country’s ability to enforce the rules, according to The New York Times.

A U.T.O. spokesperson told Reuters that the country is working to “establish a framework for travel that will enable its citizens to safely and securely access its tourism sector and economy.”

The ban came into effect on Sept. 6, and it has since led to a spike in criminal activity in both countries, as the Times reports.

In October, Colombia was placed on a list of “countries of greatest concern” due to a surge in violent crime, with a surge that prompted President Juan Manuel Santos to declare a state of emergency.

The country is currently facing a growing heroin crisis and drug traffickers have been increasingly targeting tourists, the Times noted.