“Liberians Deserve Free Visa Waiver From The U.S. Government”- Says Rev. Torli Krua
PHOTO: (L-R) Rev. Torli Krua and others in front of the US Embassy on Wednesday
By Kelvin Gonlah, gonlahkelvin1995@gmail.com
Monrovia- A group of Liberians led by a prominent Liberian human rights activist based in Boston USA today, Wednesday, January 18, 2023 petition the United States Embassy calling for visa waiver, more than 200 years after the American Colonization Society reigned in black Africa’s first independent Republic.
Rev. Torli Krua, Sr., head of the Universal Human Rights International (UHRI) who led the petitioners, called for Economic Emancipation of Liberia from the American Colonization was held at the U.S. Embassy near Monrovia calling on the American government to take key measures of the document that was signed into law by the Liberia colony and the United States.
Delivering the petition to the U.S. Embassy near Monrovia, Rev. Krua said every Liberian should have access to free Visa Weaver because it was passed into by the U.S. government and the Liberia Colony. He outlined 6 goals for the petition:
“Mitigate ongoing harm for racism, American Colonization and Slavery through public confession, repentance, restitution, reparations, and payments of damages. Inclusion of all Liberians in the USA as beneficiaries of the Liberian refugee immigration fairness Act; Grant U.S. Visa to all Liberian to access Education Employment and business opportunities without visa restrictions,” the petition said.
Rev. Krua said that the Liberian society was structure in such a way that most important positions were held by people who had political influence in the south and by those who had the largest slave number of slaves.
According to him, the less critical positions were occupied by people with small number of slaves (Beyan 1991,13). This, however, did not exclude other members of society that were among the influential people in the United States. Such as Pres. James Madison (Act 1816; membership certificate), President Andrew Jackson and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Jonh Marshall.
In their petition, the Liberians lamented that On March 3, 1819 Congress passed a bill signed into law by Pres. James Monroe that provided logistics for a colony in Africa, appropriated 100,000,00 for colonization and authorized the use of the US Navy to facilitate colonization.
The petition also called on the US government to stop what the petitioners called spending money on Monarchy celebration.
Below are other counts in the Liberians’ petition on Wednesday.
“Declassify racists US State Department cable of 1990 discrimination against Liberian applicants provide reasonable accommodation, shelter, privacy for Visa Applicant in Monrovia;
End racism by NGOS and American Missionary Agencies with tax exemption: include qualified people with lived experience on the board with Senior management of refugee resettlement agencies and nonprofit serving Black people;
and condemn all Monarchies as the root of hate crimes, colonization, racism and slavery.
“Whereas, the American “Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776-August 2, 1776) began with a recognition of the inalienable rights of all human beings: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that their Creator endows them with certai unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of happiness.” And,
Whereas, Native Americans and Americans of all races and ethnicities born in America and their descendants have, at all times since the American Declaration of Independence, have had
inalienable rights and entitlement to all privileges enjoyed by all citizens of the United States of America”, said Rev. Krua.
“Whereas, the US Congress dominated by white supremacists and slaveholders, including James Monroe, maliciously, illegally, and unjustifiably, on March 26, 1790, codified officially sanctioned racism, a crime against humanity in the Nationality Law of 1790, restricting US Citizenship to “Only white persons…” And,
Whereas, This act of racism, still unmitigated in 2023 is responsible for ongoing harm, which was first envisioned, conceived, weaponized, and unleashed against Americans. Until this racist act of Congress is mitigated by a specific law to heal the wounds, racism remains an CXIStential threat destined to destroy the United States of America, Alas, “United we stand.Divided we fall”, he lamented.
“Whereas, the blueprint, design, implementation, and founding of the American Colony of Liberia and the Society For Colonizing The Free Men Of Color of The United States were influenced and financed by the Government of the United States using American taxes, the force of the US Navy and high-ranking officials of the United States who were slaveholders, and who included individuals who served as heads of all three branches of the Government of the United States of America, albeit without any input from the citizens of the United States whose lives were being ravaged by the racist agenda, And,
Whereas, the determination of slaveholders to continue enslavement of human beings, and dehumanization of people of color indefinitely and the fear of the successful freedom of slaves in Haiti motivated slaveholders across the United States to seek the banishment of all people of color from the United States, And,
Whereas, the first victory of enslaved persons led by enslaved persons in the Haitian Revolution
began with a series of conflicts between 1791 and 1804 between Hatian slaves, colonists, the
armies of the British and French colonizers, and a number of other parties”, he added.
“And whereas, Through the struggle, the Haitian people ultimately won independence from France
and thereby became the first independent country on January 1, 1804 to be founded by former
slaves. And,
Whereas, meanwhile, in the USA, the Haitian slave revolt and Haitian independence struck fear
among American slave owners. And,
Whereas, in the USA, Mr. Gabriel, an enslaved African blacksmith owned by Mr. Prosser,
planned a large slave rebellion in the Richmond, Virginia area in the summer of 1800
Information regarding the revolt was leaked prior to its execution, and Gabriel and twenty-five
followers were hanged”, he said.
“Liberia was created by the United States government, think that the American Colonization Society created this country, that is not true, Liberia was created by the United States government for a particular purpose. The United States government wants to do certain that at certain times, and they found it difficult to do it without having a colony so they decided to create a colony but in the process of creating a colony, they passed two laws, the first law said only white people will be citizens of America but that law was contrary to the American law of declaration of Independence”, he averred.
“We are the new American, we are not the old American of James Monroe, we are the want that elected President Baden, we are the want elected the senate and so they are working for us; what are they doing, everytime 100 persons go to the embassy for visa they denied 90% and give visa to 10%, that’s not our values. People from 40 countries got to the United States without visa, Liberians can not do that. That’s not our values people 516 indigenous nations go to American for education. Our politicians set their own salaries and benefits and so when they get there, they vote” he informed the gathering.
Whereas, while Liberians Liberians refugees have been denied protections of many years, American protect pets and wild animals through federal law, preventing animals cruelty and torture Act (PACT) a bipartisam that bans intentional serious harm to “non-living mammals, birds, raptiles and amphibians.
Meanwhile, Rev. Torli Krua has urged the Liberian government to swiftly intervene into this matter by pursuing the US government to ensure Liberian nationals get visa waiver, in order to prevent Liberians from always being denied visa at the US embassy near Monrovia.