Travellers Filming in Comoros May Face Entry Bans, Vlogger's Case Shows

A travel YouTuber from Uzbekistan says he has been barred from entering Comoros after filming and publishing footage of the country's waste problems. Davud Akhundzada, who has more than one million YouTube followers, announced the entry ban on his YouTube community page.

The account comes from Akhundzada himself; the source reports no statement from Comoros authorities confirming the measure, and no date has been given for when the ban took effect.

Key facts

• Who: Davud Akhundzada, a content creator from Uzbekistan who says he has travelled to more than 30 countries documenting his trips.
• What: He says he is barred from ever returning to the Comoros, the Indian Ocean archipelago between Madagascar and the Mozambique coast.
• Why: The measure followed videos he published from Moroni and surrounding areas showing trash and waste conditions.
• How he found out: He says authorities contacted the hotel where he stayed to ask whether he was still in the country.
• Possible wider effect: He says the president also spoke about restricting other vloggers and content creators from coming to Comoros.

What does Akhundzada say happened?

Akhundzada said authorities in Comoros had been looking for him and had been in contact with his hotel about whether he had left. He claimed the situation reached the highest level of government and that the president of Comoros publicly reacted to his videos, saying "I should never set foot in the country again".

He said he did not intend to portray Comoros negatively and did not stage the scenes he filmed. In his account, the waste he recorded was already there when he arrived, and he simply filmed what was in front of him. He has shared the news of the ban publicly.

Are other content creators affected?

Akhundzada said the president also talked about restricting other vloggers and content creators from travelling to Comoros. The source does not describe any formal rule, published policy or start date for such a restriction, and it is not clear how it would work in practice.

What this means for travellers

On the information published so far, the only stated measure is an entry ban against one content creator. Travellers should be aware that the source reports a possible wider restriction aimed at vloggers and content creators coming to Comoros, but no details, conditions or timeline have been announced.

Anyone planning to film in Comoros may want to check the latest entry rules before travelling, since the source gives no official guidance on how filming is treated at the border.

No further steps, appeal process or review of the reported ban have been announced.