Trump’s Travel Ban: What does International Law Say?

Earlier this year, American President Donal Trump signed an Executive Order to protect the nation from foreign terrorists to enter the country.

What does the Ban Include?

The order places a limit on the number of refugees that enter the United States. It bans entry of foreign nationals from seven Muslim majority countries such as Yemen, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iraq and Iran. President Trump cited that the travel ban is in effect to prevent radical Islamic terrorists from entering the nation.

Is this Ban Justified from anInternational Law Perspective?

Karen DeSoto, a human rights activist and legal expert however points out that, not a single national from these seven nations have ever carried out a terrorist attack on US soil.

According to international refugee law experts, the US has operated one of the largest resettlement programs for over four decades, admitting significant number of refugees seeking asylum in their nation. During this span of time, only three Americans lost their lives in attacks conducted by Cuban refugees way back in the 70s. Besides this, there is absolutely no data supporting his claim of terrorist threats through refugees.

This ban is already facing a number of legal challenges in national courts within the US. In addition to this, when this ban is challenged by a UN body or an international court, this ban may collide with International laws.

What does the International Law Say?

The Article 3 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees disallows discrimination in the application of the convention on the grounds of country of origin, religion or race.