Off the wire
• Japan rebukes Trump's remarks about currency manipulation  • Turkish police officer attempts suicide in Istanbul clinic  • S. Korea, Japan dominate speed skating at Universiade  • China sees rising traffic as holiday nears end  • Spain's BBVA reports 3.48-bln-euro profits in 2016  • Bangladesh's 21st book fair kicks off in Dhaka  • Weather forecast for world cities -- Feb. 1  • Weather forecast for major Chinese cities, regions -- Feb. 1  • Commentary: Japan's alleged anti-China diplomatic scandal is despicable  • Russia plans to introduce Chinese language exam  
You are here: 　 Home

U.S. travel ban leads to increased stigmatization of Muslim communities: UN rights experts

Xinhua, February 1, 2017 Adjust font size:

A group of UN human rights experts on Wednesday issued a joint statement saying that the executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump breaches the country's international human rights obligations, which protect the principles of non-refoulement and non-discrimination based on race, nationality or religion.

"Such an order is clearly discriminatory based on one's nationality and leads to increased stigmatization of Muslim communities," said the statement signed by UN Special Rapporteurs on migrants, Francois Crepeau; on racism, Mutuma Ruteere; on human rights and counter-terrorism, Ben Emmerson; on torture, Nils Melzer; and on freedom of religion, Ahmed Shaheed.

"The US recent policy on immigration also risks people being returned, without proper individual assessments and asylum procedures, to places in which they risk being subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, in direct contravention of international humanitarian and human rights laws which uphold the principle of non-refoulement," they warned.

The recent U.S. Presidential Executive Order bars all nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen -- from entering the United States for the next 90 days.

The executive Order applies to those who come from these countries, whether or not they have valid visa documents or are in transit.

It also affects those who have dual nationality, who either have a passport from one of those countries or are travelling from one of those countries. Those currently residing in the U.S. may be able to fly to the U.S. but entry is not guaranteed.

"This is deeply troubling, and we are additionally concerned that such persons travelling to the US will be subject to detention for an undefined period of time and then ultimately deported," the human rights experts said.

As to the recent U.S. executive order that stops the entire U.S. refugee program for 120 days, the experts said that "in the midst of the world's greatest migration crisis since World War II, this is a significant setback for those who are obviously in need of international protection."

"The US must live up to its international obligations and provide protection for those fleeing persecution and conflicts," the human rights experts stressed.

"The US is also involved in conflicts such as those in Iraq and Syria and its responsibility must extend to offering refuge to those fleeing from the conflicts," They added. Endit