Trump ban inspires anger around the world
AUSTRALIA has refused to condemn Donald Trump’s immigration ban despite a global outcry over the controversial move.
AUSTRALIA has not joined the global condemnation of US President Donald Trump’s immigration ban despite a widespread backlash, including from other longstanding American allies.
In contrast to other countries, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has not criticised Mr Trump’s controversial ban that will temporarily stop refugees from entering the United States and to temporarily ban travellers from Syria and six other Muslim-majority countries.
Mr Turnbull said he had discussed the importance of border security and threat of illegal and irregular migration with the President during a conversation yesterday.
“(We) recognised that it is vital that every nation is able to control who comes across its borders,” Mr Turnbull said.
“Our strong border protection gives Australians confidence in the immigration system, gives them confidence in our humanitarian programs.”
He said Australia’s border security arrangements were the “envy of the world”.
When asked whether he agreed with Mr Trump’s ban he said: “It’s not my job, as prime minister of Australia, to run a commentary on the domestic policies of other countries.
“If others wish to emulate what we’re doing, they’re welcome to do so. But I am not about to run a commentary on other country’s practices.”
He also thanked Mr Trump for honouring a refugee resettlement agreement for those on Nauru and Manus islands.
Mr Turnbull spoke after hours of silence on the issue and his comments echoed those of Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Treasurer Scott Morrison.
In contrast to leaders in the UK, Germany, Indonesia and Iran, Australian MPs have avoided criticising the ban.
Ms Bishop told Fairfax the government would continue to support “strong immigration and border protection policies”.
But she is also trying to get Mr Trump to exempt Australians from the ban on dual nationals, which the UK and Canada have already been excluded from. It’s still unclear whether the US will allow Australians who hold joint citizenship with one of the seven banned countries, to enter the country.
In a statement released to news.com.au, Ms Bishop said: “I have directed our officials in Washington DC to work with US officials to ensure any preferential treatment extended to any other country in relation to travel and entry to the United States is extended to Australia.”
Treasurer Scott Morrison also defended Mr Trump’s ban, telling radio 2GB that Mr Trump was just fulfilling an election promise.
“They’ve had an election and the president has implemented what he said he would do,” he said.
He said it was up to each country to decide how to manage their border security, and the rest of the world was simply “catching up with Australia”.
Some Australians have told news.com.au they are worried the ban will impact their travel plans.
Mr Trump’s travel ban has triggered shock and confusion, as well as a wave of anger in the US and abroad, sparking mass protests Saturday at airports in New York, Washington, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas.
The unrest continued on Sunday with thousands turning up to protests scheduled outside the White House and in New York’s Battery Park, which looks across to the Statue of Liberty — America’s famed beacon of freedom and immigration.
Mr Trump defended the policy in a statement on Sunday saying the policy was similar to what former president Barack Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months.
“The seven countries named in the Executive Order are the same countries previously identified by the Obama administration as sources of terror,” he said.
“To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban ... this is not about religion — this is about terror and keeping our country safe.”
He said the US would again be issuing visas to all countries once the government was sure it had reviewed and implemented the most secure policies over the next 90 days.
However, some have noted that the ban does not apply to several Muslim-majority countries that have well-documented problems with terrorism such as Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Indonesia and Afghanistan
CONFUSION, SHOCK AT CHANGES
The President also took to Twitter to hit back at criticism from Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham after they released a joint statement against Mr Trump’s executive order.
“It is clear from the confusion at our airports across the nation that President Trump’s executive order was not properly vetted,” the statement said.
“Such a hasty process risks harmful results. We should not stop green-card holders from returning to the country they call home. We should not stop those who have served as interpreters for our military and diplomats from seeking refuge in the country they risked their lives to help.
“This executive order sends a signal, intended or not, that America does not want Muslims coming into our country. That is why we fear this executive order may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security.”
Mr Trump tweeted that the statement was wrong, saying: “they are sadly weak on immigration” and accused them of looking to start World War III.
“Senators should focus their energies on ISIS, illegal immigration and border security instead of always looking to start World War III.”
But the Trump administration later backed away from refusing entry to green-card holders in a statement released on Sunday.
The exact number of those affected by the travel ban is unclear, but US District Judge Ann Donnelly has ordered the government to provide lists of all those detained at US airports since the measure went into effect.
After an appeal from civil liberties lawyers, Donnelly issued an emergency order Saturday barring the US from summarily deporting people who arrived with valid visas or an approved refugee application, saying it would likely violate their legal rights.
However, she did not broach the constitutionality of Trump’s order to the anger of protesters at New York’s John F Kennedy Airport, where thousands had gathered.
“People are prepared to stand against this” said David Gaddis, 43. “Every day he’s in office, it’s a national emergency.”
Several staff members who spoke to The Associated Press burst into tears as they contemplated the future for people who had waited years to come into the country.
“It’s complete chaos,” said Melanie Nezer, policy director for HIAS, one of nine refugee resettlement agencies that work with the US State Department.
In the UK, more than 800,000 people have signed a petition calling on the British government to ban Mr Trump from meeting Queen Elizabeth II later this year, meaning the issue will be considered for debate in parliament.
Mr Trump was invited to meet the Queen after British Prime Minister Teresa May visited Washington on Friday.
WORLDWIDE CONDEMNATION
In Germany — which has taken in large numbers of people fleeing the Syrian civil war — Chancellor Angela Merkel said the global fight against terrorism was no excuse for the measures and “does not justify putting people of a specific background or faith under general suspicion”, her spokesman said.
She expressed her concerns to Trump during a phone call and reminded him that the Geneva Conventions require the international community to take in war refugees on humanitarian grounds, the spokesman added.
Merkel’s sentiments were echoed in Paris and London; “Terrorism knows no nationality. Discrimination is no response,” said French Foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, while his British counterpart Boris Johnson tweeted: “Divisive and wrong to stigmatise because of nationality”.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, also was sharp in her criticism of Trump’s move.
“All men are first and foremost human beings, with their inalienable rights,” Mogherini wrote in a blog post. She added: “It feels so strange that we need to restate this, just days after Holocaust Remembrance Day.”
In contrast, nationalist and far-right groups in Europe applauded the restrictions and said they should be used a model for the continent.
The Dutch anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders said in a tweet: “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.”
The far-right National Democratic Party in Germany celebrated “the massive restriction on the entry of pseudo-refugees and Muslims to the USA.”
In Italy, the leader of the anti-immigrant Northern League party also expressed admiration. “What Trump’s doing on the other side of the ocean, I’d like it done also here,” Matteo Salvini told reporters.
But Italy’s Interior Minister Marco Minniti, who had held top security roles in recent governments, warned against “equating immigration and terrorism.”
“Let’s be careful,” he said in a speech Sunday to officials from the main government coalition party, the Democrats. “Dissatisfaction and marginalisation becomes the culture terrain of terrorism.”
Along with Syria, the US ban affects travellers with passports from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Trump said his order, which indefinitely bans refugees from Syria, was “not a Muslim ban”, though he added he would seek to prioritise Christian refugees fleeing the war-torn country.
Washington’s Arab allies, including the Gulf states and Egypt, were mostly silent.
The government in Iraq, which is allied with Washington in the battle against ultra-hard line Islamist group Islamic State and hosts over 5000 US troops, also did not comment on the executive order.
But some members of the parliament said Iraq should retaliate with similar measures against the United States.
In Baghdad, influential Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said American nationals should leave Iraq, in retaliation for the travel curbs.
There was no immediate reaction to the curbs from Islamic State, although in the past it has used US monitoring of Muslim foreigners to stoke Muslim anger against Washington.
The Tehran government vowed to respond in kind to the US ban on visitors from Iran, but on Sunday Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter that Americans who already hold Iranian visas can enter the country.
In Jakarta, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the Muslim-majority nation deeply regretted Trump’s plans for “extreme vetting” of people from some Muslim countries.
The Danish, Swedish and Norwegian governments all registered their opposition, with Danish foreign minister Anders Samuelsen tweeting: “The US decision not to allow entry of people from certain countries is NOT fair.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country welcomed those fleeing war and persecution, even as Canadian airlines said they would turn back US-bound passengers to comply with an immigration ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries.
“To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada,” he tweeted.
FAMILIES SEPARATED
Trump signed the temporary ban as an executive order on Friday afternoon, suspending the arrival of all refugees for at least 120 days and barring visa holders from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Also affected were foreign dual nationals travelling to the US from one of the seven countries, such as a UK-Libya dual national coming from Libya to the US. Others affected (at least initially) include green card holders already on the path to US citizenship.
The inclusion of green card holders sparked particular outrage, leading White House chief of staff Reince Priebus to back-pedal Sunday, telling CBS television that the ban “didn’t affect them.”
Nevertheless they are still liable to face “extreme vetting” at US borders upon arrival.
On Saturday night, a federal judge in New York partially blocked the order, saying that US authorities could not to deport refugees or other people detained on arrival.
The American Civil Liberties Union went to court after two Iraqi men, one of whom had worked as an interpreter for the US military after the 2003 US-led invasion, were detained on arrival at JFK.
Travellers have been detained at US borders, splitting families — such as a father unable to reach his son’s wedding, and a grandmother unable to meet her grandchildren — and officials warned it was a “gift to extremists.”
The plan triggered a fierce political backlash, but was endorsed by Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.
Democratic politicians have also been up in arms, seeing the ban as an opportunity to galvanise outrage to the new president.
“This is not who we are,” wrote former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Twitter.
But Mr Trump was unrepentant Sunday, defending his policy in the face of growing outrage across the globe and from Americans at home.
“Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world — a horrible mess!” he tweeted to his nearly 23 million followers.
UBER CRITICISED OVER STRIKE
Some leaders from the US technology industry, a major employer of foreign workers, issued warnings to their staff and called the order immoral and un-American.
“This ban will impact many innocent people,” said Travis Kalanick, chief executive of Uber Technologies Inc UBER. UL, who said he would raise the issue at a White House meeting on Friday.
But Mr Kalanick has been criticised over his participation in Mr Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum, and accused of profiteering after Uber’s NYC Twitter account promoted Uber services during a taxi strike over Mr Trump’s ban.
This sparked the hashtag #DeleteUber to start trending worldwide, although Uber has denied it meant to break the strike.
British athletics legend Mo Farah, who was born in Somalia, called Mr Trump’s a policy of “ignorance and prejudice” that could keep him apart from his family, based in Oregon, while he is currently training in Ethiopia.
In Iran, director Asghar Farhadi said the ban had prompted him to skip this year’s Academy Awards, where his film The Salesman is nominated for best foreign language film.
He condemned the “unjust conditions forced upon some of my compatriots and the citizens of the other six countries,” and expressed “hope that the current situation will not give rise to further divide between nations.”
The captain of the US soccer team Michael Bradley said the move left him feeling “sad and embarrassed”.
Bradley, who is due to lead the USA against Serbia in a friendly in San Diego later Sunday, took to Instagram late Saturday to elaborate on earlier comments about the issue he had made to Sports Illustrated journalist Grant Wahl.
“I gave an answer where I tried to make it clear that while I understand the need for safety, the values and ideals of our country should never be sacrificed,” Bradley said.
“I believe what I said, but it was too soft. The part I left out is how sad and embarrassed I am.
“The Muslim ban is just the latest example of someone who couldn’t be more out of touch with our country and the right way to move forward.”
The US travel furore comes with Los Angeles entering the home straight in its bid to be awarded the 2024 Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee will decide the 2024 hosts at a meeting in Lima in September with Paris and Budapest also in the running.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, a prominent figure in the LA 2024 bid, has condemned the Trump travel restrictions, saying in a statement on Friday the measures “unfairly target refugees ... whose lives may depend on the compassion and generosity of the United States.”
In a further statement on Saturday, Garcetti added that history showed attempts to ban immigrants by nationality were doomed to failure.
“We have long known that it does not make us safer,” Garcetti said. “It only fans the flames of hatred that those who wish us harm seek to spread.”
- With Reuters
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