World leaders condemn Trump ‘Muslim ban’
Muslim ban ‘great gift to extremists’: Iranian Minister
EUROPEAN leaders, the United Nations and international groups have condemned US President Donald Trump’s measures against refugees and travellers from several Muslim-majority countries.
The chorus of criticism came as passport holders from Arab countries were blocked on Saturday from passing through customs at US airports and others were prevented from boarding US-bound planes.
Trump on Friday signed an executive order that will curb immigration and the entry of refugees from some Muslim-majority countries. He separately said he wanted the US to give priority to Syrian Christians fleeing the civil war there.
The bans, though temporary, took effect immediately, causing havoc and confusion for would-be travellers with passports from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Meanwhile, a federal judge has blocked part of President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, ruling that travellers who have already landed in the US with valid visas should not be sent back to their home countries.
Lawyers had filed a legal case in response to the order that includes a 90-day entry ban on citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations.
US District Judge Ann Donnelly’s ruling late on Saturday concerns dozens of people who were detained at US airports following Trump’s actions.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which had filed a class action lawsuit against the ban, hailed the temporary stay of execution as a victory.
“This ruling preserves the status quo and ensures that people who have been granted permission to be in this country are not illegally removed off US soil,” Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said.
ACLU said it would help 100 to 200 people with valid visas or refugee status, who found themselves detained in transit or at US airports after Trump signed the order late on Friday.
The legal case was raised after two Iraqis were held by law enforcement officials at John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) while trying to legally enter the country.
At least 12 travellers have been detained at JFK, prompting mass protests at the airport.
Less than 24 hours into the ban, Homeland Security LUSAKA — Zambian police officers have been warned that it is illegal for them to marry foreigners, officials said on Thursday, in a crackdown over national security.
The move to strictly enforce long-established wedding regulations attracted criticism from human rights’ groups that described it as discrimination.
The police force said that increasing numbers of officers were getting married to foreigners in defiance of the law.
“What prompted us to say that officers should not marry foreigners is because there are officers who are breaching the law,” police spokesperson Esther Katongo told AFP.
“Issues of security are delicate and we cannot just sit and watch men in uniforms marrying women from foreign countries.”
Katongo declined to identify the nationalities of the foreigners, but some local cases have involved marriages to Rwandans, according to AFP reporters. IRAN’S Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has said US President Donald Trump’s decision to ban arrivals from seven Muslim-majority countries was “a great gift to extremists”, as Tehran takes retaliatory action on US passport holders.
“Collective discrimination aids terrorist recruitment by deepening faultlines exploited by extremist demagogues to swell their ranks, Zarif posted on Twitter early yesterday.
Zarif ’s statement followed an announcement that Iran is taking “reciprocal measures”, deferring the issuance of visas to US passport holders.
He said the Trump’s decision “shows baselessness of
said that at least 109 travellers had been denied entry into the US in total.
Homeland Security said yesterday it would “comply with judicial orders”, referring to Donnelly’s ruling, but that Trump’s order remains in place.
A group of state attorneys general, meanwhile, are discussing whether to file their own court challenge against the order, officials in three states said.
Officials in the offices of attorneys general in Pennsylvania, Washington and Hawaii said they were evaluating what specific claims could be filed, and in which court.
The United Nations refugee agency and the International Organisation for Migration called on the Trump administration to continue offering asylum to people fleeing war and persecution, saying its resettlement programme was vital.
“The needs of refugees and migrants worldwide have never been greater and the US resettlement programme is one of the most important in the world,” the two Geneva-based agencies said in a joint statement on Saturday.
Germany and France also expressed discontent with Trump’s measures.
“The reception of refugees fleeing the war, fleeing oppression, is part of our duties,” Jean-Marc Ayrault, France’s foreign minister, said during a joint news conference with his German counterpart, Sigmar
In an internal memo this month, inspector general of police Kakoma Kanganja ordered that the law over police marriages had to be obeyed.
He said that all foreign marriages must be declared within one week or officers would face disciplinary actions.
But the constitutionally mandated Human Rights Commission said that the law was discriminatory and should be repealed.
“We believe in globalisation and this order is not sitting well with human rights,” said commission spokesperson Mwelwa Muleya.
“It’s a prejudiced position against people. It is discriminatory and it is our hope that the police will review this order. It might have served a purpose at some point but not now.”
Zambia is a relatively stable and peaceful country, though elections last year were criticised for violence during the campaign and muzzling of the media. — AFP the US claims of friendship with the Iranian people”.
Zarif wrote that Tehran’s decision to ban entry of Americans “is not retroactive”, and that all visitors “with valid Iranian visa will be gladly welcomed”.
The visa suspension stands until the US government removes its own restrictions on Iranian nationals, he said, adding that it is trying to differentiate the American people “and the hostile policies of the US government”.
On Friday, Trump signed a sweeping executive order to suspend refugee arrivals and impose tough controls on travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Gabriel .
Germany has taken in more than one million refugees and migrants, mainly from the Middle East, since 2015.
Although traditionally open to asylum seekers, France has taken in far fewer refugees than Germany since the migrant crisis erupted.
Some in the French government, mostly ex-premier Manuel Valls, have criticised Berlin’s open-door policy, as has Trump.
“The United States is a country where Christian traditions have an important meaning. Loving your neighbour is a major Christian value, and that includes helping people,” said Germany’s Gabriel.
“I think that is what unites us in the West, and I think that is what we want to make clear to the Americans.”
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also said the Republican’s sweeping ban on people seeking refuge in the US is no solution to problems.
“Regional issues cannot be solved by closing the doors on people,” Yildirim said during a joint news conference in Ankara with Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May, adding that Western countries should do more to help ease Turkey’s refugee burden.
May, however, refused to condemn Trump’s refugee suspension.
“The United States is responsible for the United States’ policy on refugees.” she said when repeatedly —
Dorsa Jabbari, reporting from Tehran, said Trump’s decision is causing “a lot of concern” among Iranians planning to travel to the US.
Iranians make up 45 percent of all US visa holders coming from the seven countries covered in the ban.
More than a million Iranians live in the United States. Jabbari said there was also anxiety about how the new order would affect Iran’s effort to open up the country to more tourists. A four-day international travel exhibition, attended by US travel agencies, opened in Tehran yesterday.
Travel agents in Tehran said that foreign airlines had begun barring Iranians from US-bound flights.
pressed on the issue.
But other European leaders made their concerns clear, with Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn condemning the new measures.
“The decision is . . . bad for Europe, because it’s going to strengthen even further the mistrust and hatred towards the West in the heart of the Muslim world,” he told the Sunday edition of German daily Tagesspiegel, excerpts of which were released a day in advance.
Inside the US, Democrats were also quick to condemn Trump’s order, saying it would tarnish the reputation of the country.
“Today’s executive order from President Trump is more about extreme xenophobia than extreme vetting,” said Democratic Senator Edward Markey in a statement.
Chuck Schumer, the New York senator, also criticised Trump’s move, saying in a tweet:
There are tears running down the cheeks of the Statue of Liberty tonight.
Yet some Republicans praised Trump’s move. Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, said the US president “is using the tools granted to him by Congress and the power granted by the Constitution to help keep America safe and ensure we know who is entering the United States”.
“What we have to remember in all of this is that there are millions of Americans who like what Trump
In Tehran, two travel agencies told AFP they had been instructed by Etihad Airways, Emirates and Turkish Airlines not to sell US tickets or allow Iranians holding American visas to board US-bound flights.
An Iranian studying in California said she could not now return because her ticket had been cancelled under the new restrictions.
“I had a ticket for Turkish Airlines on February 4, but it has been cancelled,” the girl, who did not wish to be identified, said in Tehran.
Iran’s foreign ministry called the decision “illegal, illogical and contrary to international rules”. — Al Jazeera
is doing when he’s revamping immigration and the visiting to the US,” Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington, DC, said.
“It’s what he promised to do during the campaign trail and in his inauguration speech.”
Trump on Wednesday also ordered the construction of a US -Mexican border wall , a major promise during his election campaign, as part of a package of measures to curb undocumented immigration.
Ostensibly referring to Trump’s executive order, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a speech on Saturday: “Today is not the time to erect walls between nations. They have forgotten that the Berlin wall fell years ago.”
He added: “Today is the time for peaceful co-existence, not the time to create distance among nations.”
But Milos Zeman, the president of the Czech Republic, praised the decision. Writing on Twitter, Zeman’s spokesperson said Trump “protects his country” and called for the European Union to take similar measures.
Dutch politician Geert Wilders, known for promoting Islamophobia, tweeted: “Well done @ POTUS it’s the only way to stay safe + free. I would do the same. Hope you’ll add more Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia soon,” using an acronym for President of the United States.
Zambia’s ban on cops marrying foreigners ‘should be repealed’