Trump Expected to Halt Refugee Admissions
Donald Trump is expected to halt refugee admissions to the U.S. and stop issuing visas to nationals of several Muslim-majority countries this week, according to experts briefed on the president’s plans.
Trump will sign a series of executive orders to restrict immigration beginning Jan. 25, an official told the Associated Press. He is expected to start with plans to build a wall on the Mexican border, and to roll out measures on refugees later in the week.
The plan on refugees is still being finalized, the AP reported, but includes a proposal to stop refugee resettlement in the U.S. for at least four months, with the exception of religious minorities fleeing persecution.
Officials say Trump wants to use the pause to implement “extreme vetting” of refugees, although details of what this entails remain scarce.
Another executive order will temporarily suspend issuing visas to nationals from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, congressional aides told Reuters.
U.N. Appeals for $8 Billion in Syria Aid
The U.N. and nongovernmental organizations appealed at an aid conference in Finland for $8 billion to assist Syrians.
The appeal, launched at the Helsinki Conference on Supporting Syrians and the Region, includes $4.63 billion to aid more than 4.7 million Syrian refugees and 4.4 million people in the countries hosting them, including Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
“Syrian refugees and host communities need our support now more than ever,” U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi said.
They also appealed for $3.4 billion to provide humanitarian aid to 13.5 million people inside the country. U.N. officials warned that the situation in Syria could still get worse despite the pledge at the Kazakhstan peace talks by Iran, Russia and Turkey that a cease-fire would be upheld.
“Even if Syrians have stopped arriving in Europe in any significant numbers, I hope that everybody realizes that the Syria refugee crisis has not gone away and continues to affect millions in host communities and continues to be a tragic situation,” U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien said.
Germany Deports More Afghans
Germany deported 26 Afghans whose claims for asylum were rejected, including some who had lived in Germany for years, according to local media.
They arrived in Kabul on January 24 and would be transferred to their home provinces, the German DPA news agency reported.
Berlin signed an agreement to speed up deportations to Afghanistan with the government in Kabul last October. A group of around 30 Afghans were deported in December.
The plan has come under fire from human rights groups, with around 100 people protesting at Frankfurt airport ahead of the latest deportations.
“Returning desperate Afghan asylums seekers to conflict and crisis is not just inhumane, it will add to the instability that drove them to flee in the first place,” Human Rights Watch’s senior Afghanistan researcher Patricia Gossman wrote this week.
Recommended Reads:
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- European Council on Foreign Relations: Why a Refugee Deal With Libya Is a Bad Idea
- The Guardian: Uganda’s Sprawling Haven for 270,000 of South Sudan’s Refugees
- The New York Times: Malnutrition Wiping Out Children in Northern Nigeria, Aid Workers Say