On Wednesday 4 June, United States President Donald Trump announced an executive order imposing an entry ban on foreign nationals from twelve countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. In addition, partial restrictions have been introduced for seven further nations: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Trump: "We must guarantee national security"

Officially, the Washington administration declared that the decision was taken "to protect the national security and interests of the United States and its people". It comes in response to an attack carried out by an Egyptian national in the city of Boulder, Colorado. The man used a rudimentary flamethrower and threw Molotov cocktails at a group of demonstrators protesting for the release of hostages still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, Trump indicated that the restrictive measures targeting those arriving from the nineteen countries in question are intended to prevent the entry of "foreign terrorists". He made particular reference to what happened in Boulder, describing it as an episode that "highlights the extreme risks posed by the uncontrolled arrival of foreign nationals" — people "whom we do not want", he added.

The reference to the attack by an Egyptian national in Colorado

Egypt, however, does not appear on either list. Looking back further, one of the three pilots of the hijacked aircraft on 11 September 2001, Mohamed Atta, was also an Egyptian national. The other two, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziyad Jarrah, were from the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon respectively — two more countries absent from Trump's lists. Furthermore, recent news reports do not suggest that the problems stem, for instance, from people coming from countries such as Cuba, Venezuela or Haiti.

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"We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen... That is why today I am signing a new executive order placing travel restrictions on countries including Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Libya, and numerous others." –President Trump

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If there is a common denominator among the countries in question, it is to be found rather from an economic standpoint: fundamentally, what the countries on both lists share is underdevelopment and poverty. The suspicion is that behind the loudly proclaimed need to ensure security lies, at least in part, the desire to seize the opportunity to impose further crackdowns on migration.

The United Nations: "The decree violates the principle of non-discrimination"

It is no coincidence that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, stressed that "the very broad and sweeping scope of the new bans raises concerns with regard to international law — in particular concerning the principle of non-discrimination, but also with reference to the necessity and proportionality of the measures adopted in response to security concerns".

In a statement released to news agencies, Türk added that "this risks contributing to the stigmatisation of foreign nationals from the countries in question, both in the United States and elsewhere, increasing their exposure to hostile attitudes and xenophobic abuse".

Amnesty International: "A discriminatory, racist and cruel measure"

Even harsher was the reaction from the US division of Amnesty International. According to the non-governmental organisation, "the decree is discriminatory, racist and utterly cruel". Meanwhile, Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, observed that the measure "will not enhance security and will cause great suffering to many people". A reaction also came from Chad's President, Mahamat Déby Itno, who ordered a freeze on the granting of residence permits to US citizens and declared: "Our country has no planes or billions to offer. But it has its dignity and its pride".

During his first term, Trump had already adopted a similar measure, blocking entry to the United States for citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries — which is why the provision was dubbed the "muslim ban". At the time, the list included Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The ban was subsequently lifted by the next United States President, Joe Biden.