Trump travel ban illegal
US President Donald Trump's travel ban on citizens from mainly Muslim countries is illegal and "mean-spirited", the United Nations human rights chief Zeid bin Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein said yesterday.
Zeid, who rarely communicates on Twitter, said in a tweet that "discrimination on nationality alone is forbidden under human rights law", adding that "the US ban is also mean-spirited and wastes resources needed for proper counter-terrorism."
The UN bodies most directly engaged with migration -- the UN refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) -- issued a statement on Saturday which made no mention of the executive order and stopped far short of condemning it, reported AFP.
Instead, the agencies urged the US to "continue its strong leadership role and long tradition of protecting those who are fleeing conflict and persecution."
They also vowed "to engage actively and constructively with the US Government... to protect those who need it most".
EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said that the 28-nation bloc was carefully studying the US travel ban to see how much it will impact EU citizens, reported The Independent.
Schinas also quoted from a Sunday interview of Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, in which he said: "We have to make choices about the world we want to live in. We must choose between isolationism, inequality and national egotism on the one hand. And openness, social equality and strength through solidarity on the other."
MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, called the refugee ban "an inhumane act against people fleeing war zones."
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