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| Muslim-majority countries show anger at Trump travel ban | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The executive order from President Donald Trump temporarily banning refugees and travellers to the US from seven Muslim-majority countries – Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen – has faced widespread condemnation. | The executive order from President Donald Trump temporarily banning refugees and travellers to the US from seven Muslim-majority countries – Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen – has faced widespread condemnation. |
| Protests have sprung up at US airports where passengers from the countries have been detained, and even UK prime minister Theresa May, who seemed hesitant to respond to the ban after a successful tête-à-tête with Trump this week, has said that she “does not agree” with Trump’s actions. | Protests have sprung up at US airports where passengers from the countries have been detained, and even UK prime minister Theresa May, who seemed hesitant to respond to the ban after a successful tête-à-tête with Trump this week, has said that she “does not agree” with Trump’s actions. |
| Not all the governments of the countries affected have released official statements about the ban, but some who are have responded with anger and outrage. | Not all the governments of the countries affected have released official statements about the ban, but some who are have responded with anger and outrage. |
| Iran | Iran |
| The response from Iran has been swift and sharp. Foreign minister Javad Zarif, writing on Twitter, went as far to say that the ban was “a great gift to extremists”, adding that the “collective discrimination aids terrorist recruitment by deepening faultlines exploited by extremist demagogues to swell their ranks”. An official statement from the government repeated this sentiment, and said that the restrictions were an insult to the Muslim world. They warned that they would be taking “reciprocal measures” on US passport holders, which is likely to mean that US travel to Iran will also be restricted, and said that they believed aspects of Trump’s order to be illegal. The US and Iran have had frosty relations for years, after President Jimmy Carter cut ties with the country in 1980 during the Iran hostage crisis. | |
| Sudan | Sudan |
| The east African country has called Trump’s decision “very unfortunate” considering the “historic steps” taken weeks earlier under the Obama administration that lifted sanctions for cooperation on combating terrorism. “It is particularly unfortunate that this decision coincides with the two countries’ historic move to lift economic and trade sanctions … and just as economic and financial institutions as well as businessmen in the country were set to continue developing their investment projects,” the statement said. There had been a 20-year-old trade embargo against Sudan due to its role as a host and backer of terrorist groups including Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida, but the recent steps, which have now been delayed by 180 days, should unfreeze assets and remove financial sanctions as a response to the country’s cooperation in fighting Isis. | The east African country has called Trump’s decision “very unfortunate” considering the “historic steps” taken weeks earlier under the Obama administration that lifted sanctions for cooperation on combating terrorism. “It is particularly unfortunate that this decision coincides with the two countries’ historic move to lift economic and trade sanctions … and just as economic and financial institutions as well as businessmen in the country were set to continue developing their investment projects,” the statement said. There had been a 20-year-old trade embargo against Sudan due to its role as a host and backer of terrorist groups including Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida, but the recent steps, which have now been delayed by 180 days, should unfreeze assets and remove financial sanctions as a response to the country’s cooperation in fighting Isis. |
| Iraq | Iraq |
| The Iraqi government said it understood the security motives behind Trump’s decision to ban citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations, including Iraq, from entering the US, but underlined that the country’s “special relationship” should be taken into consideration. | |
| Government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi says Iraqis were hoping the new orders would “not affect the efforts of strengthening and developing the bilateral relations between Iraq and the United States”. Two members of the Iraqi parliament said they planned to lobby against the restrictions by arguing that the countries needed to maintain their alliance against Isis. | |
| “Iraq is in the frontline of the war on terrorism … and it is unfair that the Iraqis are treated in this way,” the parliament’s foreign affairs committee said after a meeting on Sunday in Baghdad. “We ask the Iraqi government to reciprocate to the decision taken by the US administration.” | “Iraq is in the frontline of the war on terrorism … and it is unfair that the Iraqis are treated in this way,” the parliament’s foreign affairs committee said after a meeting on Sunday in Baghdad. “We ask the Iraqi government to reciprocate to the decision taken by the US administration.” |
| A strongly worded statement also came from a spokesperson for Popular Mobilisation, an Iraqi coalition of paramilitary groups fighting Isis, who called on the Iraqi government to ban US nationals from entering the country and to expel those currently on Iraqi soil. Thousands of US troops remain in Iraq following the 2003 invasion. | |
| Iraqi refugees who have been accepted into the US in the past decade have all been subjected to extensive vetting, involving interviews and background checks. Many have worked for the US military or government. | Iraqi refugees who have been accepted into the US in the past decade have all been subjected to extensive vetting, involving interviews and background checks. Many have worked for the US military or government. |
| Syria | Syria |
| With the continuing humanitarian crisis in Syria reaching critical levels, it’s unsurprising that President Bashar al-Assad’s government hasn’t yet released a statement on travel restrictions applied to his citizens. Almost 5 million people have been displaced from Syria since the civil war began, and in 2016, 12,587 of them ended up in the US as refugees. Trump’s actions have led to the suspension of America’s Syrian refugee resettlement programme, which has been called “one of the most important in the world” by the United Nations refugee agency and the International Organisation for Migration. They urged him to reconsider his four-month hold on allowing refugees from the seven states into the country. It was expected that Trump’s order would include the provision of “safe zones” in Syria to protect those especially vulnerable in the country, but this did not feature. | |
| Yemen | Yemen |
| The Yemeni government has yet to release a statement. However, the Yemen embassy in Washington posted a warning on Facebook to citizens regarding the travel restrictions, and advising them not to travel to or from America. Yemen is in the midst of a civil war, which the US has a hand in – they have launched drone strikes on al-Qaida targets in the country which have killed both civilians and US citizens. On Sunday, the first US combat loss under President Trump was suffered in Yemen when a US soldier died during an assault on al-Qaida. | |
| Libya and Somalia | Libya and Somalia |
| So far, neither country has released an official statement in response to the ban. Libya has been ravaged by civil war and has no functioning central government. | So far, neither country has released an official statement in response to the ban. Libya has been ravaged by civil war and has no functioning central government. |