The United Nations refugee chief has expressed alarm at the scale of Donald Trump’s order barring the arrival of refugees, saying it placed 20,000 people who were expecting resettlement in the US in “precarious circumstances”.
“Refugees … are fleeing war, persecution, oppression and terrorism,” said Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees. “The individuals and families UNHCR refers to governments for resettlement are the most vulnerable – such as people needing urgent medical assistance, survivors of torture, and women and girls at risk. The new homes provided by resettlement countries are lifesaving for people who have no other options.”
Late on Friday, the Trump administration issued a temporary ban on the entry of Syrian, Sudanese, Somali, Iraqi, Yemeni, Iranian and Libyan nationals to the United States in an executive order that he said was prompted by security concerns.
The move also suspended arrivals by all refugees for 120 days and stopped the resettlement of Syrian refugees indefinitely, even though those who were expected to arrive in the US having already undergone an arduous vetting process that could take up to two years.
“This week alone, over 800 refugees were set to make America their new home, but instead find themselves barred from travelling to the US,” Grandi said. “UNHCR estimates that 20,000 refugees in precarious circumstances might have been resettled to the United States during the 120 days covered by the suspension announced Friday, based on average monthly figures for the last 15 years. Refugees are anxious, confused and heartbroken at this suspension in what is already a lengthy process.”
US travel ban - a brief guide
The executive order signed by Donald Trump suspends the entire US refugee admissions system, already one of the most rigorous in the world, for 120 days. It also suspends the Syrian refugee program indefinitely, and bans entry to the US to people from seven majority-Muslim countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – for 90 days. The order has prompted a series of legal challenges, while thousands of Americans have protested outside airports and courthouses in solidarity with Muslims and migrants.
Refugee agencies have expressed alarm at the move in recent days, saying it violated international norms and refugee conventions. The US has taken in far fewer Syrian refugees in particular than countries neighboring war-torn Syria, and even European nations like Germany and Sweden.
The US has resettled 18,000 Syrian refugees. Turkey has taken in approximately three million Syrian refugees and Lebanon, which had a pre-war population of four million people, has received 1.5 million Syrians who fled the fighting in their home country.
The number of refugees in Lebanon per capita would be equivalent to the US taking in roughly 63 million refugees.
“The decision to halt resettlement would not only be detrimental to the safety and livelihoods of Syrians currently waiting to be resettled, but also harmful to Syrian refugees who have already been resettled in the US. Such a policy is antithetical to American values and humanitarian principles, and we urge the president to reconsider,” the Chicago-based Syrian Community Network, which supports resettled refugees, said in a statement.
“This act would bar Syrian refugees, and refugees from other nationalities, from taking refuge in the land that was built on the premise of being open to people who are fleeing persecution and violence,” the statement added.
Carolyn Miles, the head of Save the Children, said that women and children under 12 make up two-thirds of Syrian refugees in the US.
“Now is not the time to turn our back on these families, or our core American values, by banning refugees,” she said. “We can protect our citizens without putting even more barriers in front of those who have lost everything and want to build a better future in America.”
“The reality is that the US refugee resettlement program saves lives… while helping to ensure the safety of our country,” she said.