U.S. Court Puts Trump Refugee, Travel Ban on Hold
Refugees and visa-holders from seven countries barred from the U.S. by President Donald Trump’s executive order face a race against time to enter America after a court put a temporary hold on the ban.
The January 27 executive order halted refugee resettlement for four months and blocked people from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen for three months. The U.S. canceled up to 60,000 people’s visas last week.
The states of Washington and Minnesota filed a legal challenge to the order, claiming it hurts their residents, businesses and universities and is unconstitutional. On February 3, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order on the ban and the Department of Homeland Security suspended its enforcement of the ban, allowing refugees and visa-holders to resume travel.
A U.S. appeals court denied the U.S. Justice Department’s request for an emergency stay of the restraining order. The fast-paced legal battle continued February 6 with nearly 100 U.S. tech companies, including Apple, Google and Microsoft, filing a legal brief arguing that Trump’s immigration ban “inflicts significant harm on American business.”
Amid the legal uncertainty, travelers rushed to enter the U.S. and resettlement groups moved swiftly to help refugees, including Syrians, reach the U.S. as soon as possible. “Our staff are being told to move like crazy,” said Leonard Doyle, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration.
Libya Blocks Migrant Boats Amid E.U. Plan
The Libyan coast guard said it had blocked over 1,100 migrants and refugees from sailing toward Europe in one week.
Some 431 people were intercepted on four inflatable boats off the Libyan coast on February 2 and 700 people in three wooden boats on January 27, spokesman Ayoub Qassem said. The passengers were mostly from sub-Saharan countries, but also included a number of Syrians, Palestinians, Tunisians and Libyans. Many of them were women and children, he said.
The E.U. adopted a plan to curb migration via Libya at a summit in Malta on February 3 that would provide the fragile U.N.-backed government with aid and technical support to block migrant boats, including boosting the capacity of the coast guard to stop departures.
U.N. human rights experts warned that the coast guard is returning migrants to dire conditions and abuse in Libya.
Refugees in Greece Launch Hunger Strikes, Confront Minister
Refugees have launched hunger strikes in several refugee camps around Greece in protest at poor living conditions.
Several asylum seekers in a camp on the Greek island of Samos started a hunger strike last week, and one was hospitalized after three days without food, E.U. Observer reported.
Refugees living in Elliniko, an abandoned Olympic sports complex near Athens, also announced they were launching a hunger strike on February 5.
Greek immigration minister Yiannis Mouzalas was confronted by protesters when he tried to enter Elliniko camp the following day. The minister called the hunger strike “fake” and accused a protester of trying to punch him. “We are human. We are not animals,” one protester shouted at the minister, according to Agence France-Presse.
Recommended Reads:
- Reuters: Peru to Give Visas to Thousands of Crisis-Weary Venezuelans
- Al Jazeera: The Forgotten Generations: Palestinian Refugees in Iraq
- Oxford American: The Garden of Refugees
- The New Yorker: Refugees in America
- Time: Vet Us, Check Us, But Do Not Deny Us a Home